Trump teases $2,000 tariff dividend, Bessent says details still unclear
President Donald Trump is promising what he calls a $2,000 dividend for most Americans, saying the money would come from the nation’s booming tariff revenues.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “People that are against tariffs are fools! ….. We are taking in trillions of dollars and will soon begin paying down our enormous debt… a dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) Will be paid to everyone.”
It was one of several weekend posts where Trump claimed the U.S. was the richest and most respected country in the world thanks to his trade policies — and that those tariffs are now paying down the national debt.
But when pressed on the details, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent offered a far more cautious explanation on ABC’s “This Week.“
”The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways, George, “Bessent said. “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,”
So far, though, there’s no formal proposal, no congressional language and no clear math showing how such a payout would be funded.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the U.S. has collected about $227 billion in tariffs revenues so far in 2025 — far short of what would be needed to finance $2,000 payments to most Americans.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
