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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrump eyes issuing $1,000-$2,000 'dividend' checks for Americans -- with the cash coming from $1T in tariff revenue
Imagine opening your mailbox to find a $2,000 dividend check from the government. Thats the eye-popping idea President Donald Trump is now floating all thanks to his sweeping tariff policy.
In a recent interview with One America News, Trump touted how much money tariffs could generate.
Theyre just starting to kick in, but ultimately, your tariffs are going to be over a trillion dollars a year, he said. (1) Thats a big claim. Treasury Department data cited by Fox Business shows cumulative tariff collections at $214.9 billion so far in 2025. (2)
Trump says the funds would first go toward paying down the national debt. Number one, we're paying down debt, because people have allowed the debt to go crazy, he said.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-eyes-issuing-1-000-201000202.html
Wait a second. He was saying they brought in $17 trillion the other day. And what about the DOGE refund he promised earlier?

LyfeTimeDem
(252 posts)We were all getting "Medbed" cards ....to cure all our disease
TheBlackAdder
(29,762 posts)What's this, some kind of pre-election bribe or something?
Either someone lied, someone stole the money, or a bit of both.
Red Mountain
(2,194 posts).....not to worry......there's always bankruptcy.
Creditors are ALWAYS willing to negotiate for pennies on the dollar......suckers.
Coming soon to a nation near you.
Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(129,752 posts)They have a history of bankruptcy.
ret5hd
(21,854 posts)Johonny
(24,867 posts)I'm going to the Sizzler
markodochartaigh
(4,311 posts)By the time you get that money Trump will have tanked the dollar so much you will be lucky to get two big macs with fries.
FoxNewsSucks
(11,354 posts)bucolic_frolic
(52,776 posts)Now they're going to give you back 8 cents on the dollar.
Um, somebody made off with a lot of money!
markodochartaigh
(4,311 posts)One trillion divided by 250 million is 4,000. This money was paid by the buyers of products, the consumers, us.
And that deficit? That deficit is almost entirely from tax cuts for the wealthy and wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Where the hell is the rest of our $4,000, because $2,000 ain't cutting it.
You want to pay down your debt, go claw back those tax breaks for the 1%.
Sogo
(6,698 posts)He's the number one reason the debt has gone crazy. In his first administration and now this one, with the massive tax cuts to the wealthiest.
Prairie Gates
(6,480 posts)There will be no trillion dollar tariff revenue. They will not pay down the "debt" at all. There will be no "dividend," which would only be a partial refund on the increased tax of the tariffs in the first place.
Literally every element of this story is bullshit.
ProfessorGAC
(74,795 posts)Now, I don't have to.
BTW: I don't believe the tariff revenues they are claiming because of who is claiming it.
Silent Type
(11,444 posts)Cosmocat
(15,307 posts)Just out and out say, if Rs win we will send out the checks ... then of course not do it.
multigraincracker
(36,502 posts)Democratic Party.
Takket
(23,290 posts)LetMyPeopleVote
(171,292 posts)As the president floats new dividend checks, theres an old accounting maxim he might want to learn: You cant spend the same dollar twice.
Why Trumpâs plan for tariff rebate checks must inevitably end in failure www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...
— @jimrissmiller.bsky.social 2025-10-04T19:35:28.166Z
https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trumps-plan-tariff-rebate-checks-must-inevitably-end-failure-rcna235460
As Reuters reported, he hasnt yet given up on the idea.
The Republican president said his administration was looking at using tariff revenues to issue rebate checks for Americans. We also might make a distribution to the people, almost like a dividend to the people of America, Trump told OAN. Weve thinking maybe $1,000 to $2,000. Itd be great.
.....And therein lies a problem. Theres an old accounting maxim, You cant spend the same dollar twice, and the president might want to familiarize himself with the idea......
There are very credible concerns about tariffs weakening economic growth in the coming months and years, but even putting those questions aside, theres a more foundational problem: The White House cant spend the same dollar several times.
Earlier this week, during his radical remarks to U.S. generals and admirals, Trump boasted, Weve taken in trillions of dollars. Were rich again. If he were right, and the United States had actually taken in trillions of dollars since April, we could have a very different kind of conversation. But in reality, tariff revenue was roughly $30 billion in July. (Thats billion with a B, not trillion with a T.)
In the context of federal expenditures, thats not even close to being enough money to pay for all of the things the president has talked about.
In late July, Trump boasted online, Our Country is doing very well and can afford just about anything. Itd be nice if that were true. It's not.
Jack Valentino
(3,584 posts)GoodRaisin
(10,583 posts)videohead5
(2,769 posts)He is giving our money back to us that he took away with his tariff taxes. What a total joke.
Your statement is missing the words, "Some of." As in, "He is giving some of our money back..."
And he's not. He lies, you know.
You are correct.