President Donald Trump in a Sunday morning post on Truth Social promised to send “at least $2000” directly to Americans using tariff revenue, promising to reward taxpayers and pay off the U.S.’ national debt just as his tariff policy faces a challenge at the Supreme Court.
KEY FACTS
In a post on Truth Social, Trump lambasted opponents of his tariff policy as “FOOLS,” just days after both conservative and liberal justices on the Supreme Court scrutinized his administration’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose them.
The promised $2,000 would not be issued to “high income people,” Trump noted, but did not provide details on what income level would disqualify recipients.
Trump’s post also gave few details about when or how the rebate checks would be sent.
HOW HAS TRUMP USED TARIFFS?
Trump’s post on Sunday comes only days after the Supreme Court heard arguments for two cases challenging the legality of his method of broadly imposing tariffs. The president raised tariffs on key trade partners Canada, Mexico and China, then expanded this policy to nearly every foreign nation with his “Liberation Day” announcement in April. Although the administration backed off some of these steeper “reciprocal” tariffs, Trump has continued to issue new tariff rates for individual countries. Trump has used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose the sweeping tariffs, but both conservative and liberal justices on the high court appeared skeptical of the government’s arguments defending the policy. However, they also sharply questioned the arguments against the tariffs. In an interview with “60 Minutes” last week, Trump said it would be a “very sad day” if the Supreme Court overruled his tariff policy, telling CBS News’ Norah O’Donnell, “I think our country will be immeasurably hurt. I think our economy will go to hell.”
HOW MUCH REVENUE HAVE TARIFFS RAISED?
Trump claimed the United States was “taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion.” The U.S. raised about $195 billion in tariff revenue during fiscal year 2025, according to the Treasury Department’s statement after the year ended in September. The Yale Budget Lab predicts Trump’s tariffs could raise as much as $2.6 trillion between 2026 and 2035, but if the Supreme Court strikes down his use of the IEEPA it could cut this revenue down by more than 50%, though the administration has signaled it will seek other legal methods to impose tariffs even if the existing ones are struck down. The U.S. national debt is over $38.1 trillion, according to the Treasury Department’s data.
CONTRA
Speaking on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he had not spoken to Trump about sending a tariff dividend to Americans, and implied it might come instead in the form of tax decreases already promoted as part of Trump’s policy agenda. “The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways,” Bessent said. “It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda. You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. Deductibility of auto loans. So, you know, those are substantial deductions that, you know, are being financed in the tax bill.” These measures were passed as part of Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” a landmark spending package signed into law in July.
KEY BACKGROUND
This is not the first time Trump has proposed sending Americans cash based on tariffs, which threatens to raise prices for consumers on imported goods. In July, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., sponsored legislation to send $600 rebate checks to Americans. Trump floated the idea in October. “We also might make a distribution to the people, almost like a dividend to the people of America,” he told conservative network One America News, noting these checks would likely be in the $1,000-$2,000 range.
