Trump Proposes $2,000 Stimulus Checks to Most Americans
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he wants to provide most Americans with a $2,000 payment funded by tariff revenue, defending a policy that has become central to his administration.
He promoted his tariff strategy as a source of new government income, arguing that it has spurred what he described as “record investment” in U.S. manufacturing.
“A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. He did not explain how the payments would be delivered.
Mr. Trump has raised the possibility of tariff-based rebates before. In July, he said the administration was weighing a small rebate for Americans tied to the billions collected in tariff revenue since he took office.
His latest proposal comes while a major component of his tariff approach is being reviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court. Several justices expressed skepticism last week about Mr. Trump’s reliance on the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose broad import tariffs.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request from CBS News seeking clarification on how the payments would be distributed.
How would such a rebate be issued?
Historically, rebates or stimulus payments are handled through the tax system, which generally requires Congressional approval allowing the Treasury Department to send checks.
For example, the three pandemic-era stimulus rounds were approved by Congress and signed into law by Presidents Trump and Biden.
Earlier this year, Congress passed the Republican tax and spending package, described by supporters as “big” and “beautiful,” which included new tax breaks, such as removing taxes on certain tipped wages and overtime pay. However, it did not authorize any rebates or dividend-style payouts.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday on Fox News that the dividend “could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways.”
He added, “You know, 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.”
Is there enough tariff revenue to fund a $2,000 payment?
Sending $2,000 to roughly 150 million adults making $100,000 or less would cost about $300 billion, according to Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, in a post on X.
“Only problem, new tariffs have raised $120 billion so far,” she wrote.
In the fiscal year ending September 30, the federal government collected $195 billion in customs duties, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
Of that, nearly $89 billion came from tariffs issued under IEEPA authority, based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. The administration has also used other trade rules beyond IEEPA to impose additional tariffs.
If the Supreme Court decides that tariffs imposed through IEEPA are invalid, companies could seek refunds — reducing the tariff revenue available to fund rebate checks.
York also noted that sending such rebates would increase the national debt.
“The math gets worse accounting for the full budgetary impact of tariffs: a dollar of tariff revenue offsets about 24 cents of income and payroll tax revenue,” she wrote. “Adjusting for that, tariffs have raised $90 billion of net revenues compared to Trump’s proposed $300 billion rebate.”
