Trump said $2,000 tariff-funded dividend checks could be sent without Congress, hinting at an income cap on who qualifies.
In his Tuesday’s (January 20) press brief, President Donald Trump provided a major update on the $2000 dividend checks that he first promised to Americans in July 2025 in lieu of the country’s income from the tariff revenues.
Trump told reporters at the White House that his administration can start sending the tariff dividends checks without the approval of the US Congress. He also hinted that an ‘income limit’ could be set regarding who receives them.
“I don’t think we would have to go to Congress, but, you know, we’ll find out,” Trump said, when questioned by a reporter whether the decision would need the Houses’ approval. “But we’d do a $2,000 dividend to the people of our country, would probably set an income limit, where it made sense,” he added.
The President then went on to defend the tariff regime, which has faced increasing scrutiny, including from the US Supreme Court. He stressed that the reason the tariff dividends are being talked about is “because we have so much money coming in from tariffs that we’ll be able to issue at least a $2,000 dividend and also pay down debt for the country.”
“But we will be able to make a very substantial dividend to the people of our country,” he added. “I believe we can do that without Congress.”
When Could The $2000 Tariff Dividend Come?
In his Tuesday’s address, Trump did not provide details on when exactly the tariff dividends could be sent out. An official announcement on the on the date of issuance from the Trump administration is still pending, despite it being months since the idea was first floated in July 2025.
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Trump, notably, appeared to briefly forget the proposal during a January 7 New York Times interview before reaffirming plans for payments “toward the end of the year,” possibly without needing Congress.
As of now, the last specified date on when the $2000 tariff dividend could come was set by Trump to be sometime in mid-2026. He had said in a Truth Social post that the dividend will be targeting low- and middle-income Americans with “thousands of dollars.”
The checks are widely expected to be released sometime ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The article originally appeared on Hindustan Times
