Naive question. The U.S now has trillions of dollars in debt to other countries, including our enemies, but we also don’t want to give enemies our money.
But if we have debt, why not just pay it back?
We do. Every day.
US Debt is all held in marketable securities - bonds, bills, notes, etc. All have a fixed maturation period - when it matures, it pays.
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We don’t go out and beg for loans, the US sells various securities, and it’s a good deal for entities that purchase. Stable returns from a stable source.
Good question, though 
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The US national debt is $33.5T about 30% ~11T of that is held by foreigners.
We want them to hold our debt it is what makes our dollar good-n-strong (for buying oil, Chinese-made computers etc…) Their willingness to buy our debt keeps our interest rates low.
Even if we wanted to:
All US government spending is about $5.5T combined.
So to pay-off all foreign-owned debt would mean the equivalent of canceling all social security, all military spending, all of the “Inflation Reduction Act,” all bank bail-outs and the entire “USA CHIPs Act” combined for 2 years straight. The voters would never go for it.
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The money isn’t actually real, and you, the tax-paying worker, are the actual collateral. 
