Donald Trump has revealed how he plans to finance a $2,000 tariff “dividend” check for most Americans with low to medium incomes.
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, distributing these $2,000 payments to most Americans could cost up to $600 billion—more than twice the projected revenue from the tariffs introduced in April.
So far, the steep tariffs have generated around $90 billion from key countries worldwide, with a baseline tariff of roughly 10 percent applied to most foreign nations.
Despite this, the revenue remains only a small portion of what is needed to fulfill his promise, and Trump has insisted that taxpayer money will not be used to cover the shortfall.
Instead, he continues to maintain that tariffs will ultimately fund the checks. On Monday (November 24), the president shared an update, expressing confidence that tariff revenues will soon surge and fill the gap.
Posting on Truth Social, he stated that the “full benefit of the Tariffs had not yet been calculated.”
Earlier this year, many businesses rushed to stockpile inventory before tariff deadlines took effect, temporarily allowing them to avoid steep import fees.
However, warehouses are now running low on this backstock, and the president predicts companies will soon be forced to pay the higher import fees in full.
With tariffs soon to be collected on everything they apply to—with no more avoidance—Trump expects the revenue owed to the U.S. to “skyrocket over and above the already historic levels of dollars received.”
While many Americans eagerly await the potential $2,000 windfall, which could arrive before the 2026 midterms, Republican lawmakers have warned that Trump’s tariff dividends might have serious economic consequences.
During the height of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Trump approved a Covid-19 stimulus payment to help Americans weather the crisis—an action widely appreciated by citizens in need.
But when Joe Biden took office in 2021, Democrats pushed for additional rounds of stimulus checks, which economists believe may have contributed to rising inflation.
As the cost of living increased, Biden’s approval ratings dropped, and experts now worry Trump could face similar political fallout if he moves forward with this plan.
According to the Consumer Price Index, inflation has been rising since January, with prices reaching three percent in September.
With costs continuing to climb, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has encouraged Americans to save their checks rather than spend them, hoping to prevent further inflationary pressure.
“Maybe we could persuade Americans to save that, because one of the things that’s going to happen next year is the Trump account[s],” he told Fox News.
