President Trump’s $2,000 tariff rebate plan could cost twice as much as it earns
President Donald Trump’s $2,000 tariff rebate plan could cost $600 billion a year, twice as much as tariff revenue.
President Donald Trump has floated the idea of sending $2,000 tariff dividend checks to Americans, and the Treasury secretary said on Sunday, Nov. 16, “we’ll see” if the plan actually comes to fruition.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Maria Bartiromo on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” when asked about the checks that the administration “needs a bill for that,” adding that the checks “could be leaked.” Bessent also said the checks will be targeted to “working families.”
President Trump recently hinted at the possibility of checks from tariff revenue. On Nov. 9, he posted on Truth Social that “everyone will receive a dividend of at least $2,000 per person (except for high earners!).”
Three days later, on November 12, White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt was asked about dividends and echoed the president’s support for them. “The White House is fully committed to making that happen, and we are currently considering all legal options to make that happen.”
Trump says he floated the idea in July.“We might get some rebates, but what we want to do is pay down our debt” with the customs revenue.
President Trump expressed a similar idea through DOGE.
President Trump said on Truth Social on November 10 that the $2,000 payments would go to “low- and moderate-income Americans.” But this isn’t the first time President Trump has hinted he’d give money to Americans, so taxpayers could be forgiven for being skeptical about the arrival of the checks. None of the checks resulted from the president’s February consideration of stimulus checks funded by expected savings from Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cost-cutting efforts.
The idea came from Azoria investment firm CEO James Fishback, who had been lobbying Company X to issue stimulus checks to Musk based on his claimed savings. The checks, which required Congressional approval, were not issued.
Gabe Hauari is USA TODAY’s national trends news reporter. You can follow him at X @gabehauari Or email Gdhauari@gannett.com.
Mike Snyder is a national trends news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, and X, and email him at: mike snyder & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com
