President Donald Trump had announced that $2000 dividend checks from tariff revenues would be given to eligible Americans.
President Donald Trump had announced that eligible Americans would get $2000 dividend checks from the tariff revenues. His declaration had come in a Truth Social post even as the president’s tariff scheme was facing a legal test in the Supreme Court.
On Truth Social, Trump had said “People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER,” the president wrote. “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”
Also Read | What to know about Trump’s plan to give Americans a $2,000 tariff dividend
However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared to cast some doubt on this, saying that the payout might just refer to tax savings that are enshrined by Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill legislation. Speaking to ABC News, he said, “It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security, deductibility on auto loans. Those are substantial deductions that are being financed in the tax bill.”
However, Bessent had admitted that he’s not discussed the proposal with Trump.
Will Trump give out $2000 checks?
After the seemingly contradictory statement from the Trump administration official, the White House issued a clarification on Wednesday. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president remains ‘committed’ to the cause.
Without providing details, Leavitt also noted that White House officials are exploring ways to execute the plan that Trump put forth in the Truth Social post. “The president made it clear he wants to make it happen. So his team of economic advisers are looking into it,” Leavitt said, as per ABC7 Eyewitness News.
Notably, when Trump made the announcement, the government was in shutdown, but now that operations are resuming, Leavitt has hinted that discussions on Trump’s proposal could take place. However, given the lack of details from the White House Press Secretary, it is unlikely the checks will come in November.
While Trump has not specified who will be eligible for said checks, Erica York a policy expert at Tax Foundation noted on X that if dividends went to Americans making $100,000 or less it would result in around $300 billion in dividends. By contrast, the Trump government has generated $195 billion in tariff-related revenue, as of September 30. Thus, as per current plans, the estimated cost of the dividend checks exceeds the currently available tariff revenue.
However, the Trump government might want to pay from anticipated tariff revenue. The projected numbers are $3 trillion over the next decade. Going down this route would add to the federal debt, though, which currently stands at over $38 trillion, as per the Treasury Department.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
