President Trump announces $1,776 ‘Warrior Dividend’ to US military
President Donald Trump announced that his administration will distribute $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” checks to military members before Christmas.
WASHINGTON – When President Donald Trump announced in a prime-time White House address that he would give every military member a $1,776 bonus, he suggested the cost would be covered by tariff revenue.
But Pentagon officials acknowledged that the $2.6 billion so-called “warrior dividend” was funded by the Pentagon and not from the president’s high tariffs on imports.
The official said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was confirmed last summer, directed the Pentagon to pay the bonuses out of the $2.9 billion military housing fund appropriated by Congress in President Trump’s expansive “One Big Beautiful Bill” law.
“We made a lot more money on tariffs than anyone thought possible. This bill helped us,” Trump said in a 19-minute address to the nation on Dec. 17. “No one deserves it more than our military.”
Funding to cover the “warrior’s dividend” was originally intended to increase basic housing allowances that help service members pay for off-base housing costs. The remaining $300 million left over from the housing program will support future Housing Basic Allowance requirements, the Pentagon said.
President Trump said $1,776 checks – the amount chosen to commemorate the founding of the United States in 1776 – will be distributed to all 1.45 million military members in the United States by Christmas. “Tariffs and the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ that just passed made that possible,” he said.
“And the checks have already started,” Trump said.
President Trump previously presented a $2,000 tariff refund check.
In a video posted on X, Hegseth said a one-time tax-free bonus will be given to all service members, regardless of pay grade.
“I think it would be smarter for Americans to receive this check right before Christmas,” Hegseth said. “To America’s warriors, President Trump and I, and the entire Department of the Army, stand with you.”
The sweeping tariffs President Trump has imposed over the past year have generated about $200 billion in revenue, according to Customs and Border Protection’s latest tally in December.
The Supreme Court will soon consider the legality of President Trump’s use of executive emergency powers to impose tariffs. If the courts rule against the president on tariffs, President Trump will have to roll back his economic policy agenda.
In November, President Trump announced he would send $2,000 rebate checks to all Americans, paid solely with revenue from tariffs. The proposal would likely require approval from Congress, which has the financial power to provide adequate federal funding.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan nonprofit group, released a study that found the rebate checks would cost $600 billion a year, about twice the $300 billion the United States is expected to generate from President Trump’s new import tariffs.
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
