On Thursday, President Trump mentioned he’s still considering a plan to provide rebates of up to $2,000, sourced from the revenue generated by his tariff policies.
His suggestion revolves around distributing a portion of the substantial funds collected by the government following the implementation of tariffs on foreign countries. There will be a debate in April that will decide whether the president has the authority to impose these global tariffs, which he plans to discuss next month.
“They’re just starting to start,” he remarked during an interview about tariffs.
What does he intend to do with the funds? Well, “Number one, we’re paying off our debts,” Trump stated.
He claimed that the $37 trillion national debt is “very small, relatively speaking,” especially since the government is currently earning unprecedented amounts through tariffs.
He added, “With that being said, we’ll pay off our debts, but we might distribute them to people,” laying out his vision of “dividends to the American people.”
He indicated that they are contemplating checks between $1,000 and $2,000 for Americans, which, he noted, is a pretty great idea. Of course, any federal payments would need the approval of Congress.
According to Fox Business, the federal government has accumulated approximately $214.9 billion in revenue from tariffs this year, as reported by Treasury data.
Although tariff revenue in September reached $31.3 billion, it was slightly less than August’s record, by about $73 million.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has expressed optimism that the U.S. could generate at least $300 billion in tariff revenue by year’s end.
In a notable ruling in August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit declared that most of Trump’s tariffs were not sanctioned by the Emergency Act. This followed two lower court decisions deeming many tariffs imposed on U.S. trading partners as illegal.
Nonetheless, the appeals court permitted Trump’s tariffs to stay effective pending an appeal to the Supreme Court, which will hear the case in the first week of November.
Bessent cautioned that if the Supreme Court finds these tariffs illegal, the government might have to refund between $750 billion and $1 trillion based on collected and anticipated tariff revenue.
