President Trump announces $2,000 checks for Americans from tariff revenue

(TNND) — President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that he will give a $2,000 check to every American, which will come from the tariff revenue collected by the administration.

“A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that those against tariffs are “fools.”

While this proposal would likely need to be passed by Congress, it resembles legislation introduced this summer by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) this summer, to give $600 tariff rebates to nearly all Americans and their dependent children.

“My legislation would allow hardworking Americans to benefit from the wealth that Trump’s tariffs are returning to this country,” Hawley said.

In August, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that the administration’s priority is to use the tariff revenue to pay down the $38.12 trillion national debt.

In Sunday’s social media post, Trump also said that the administration would use the tariff revenue to pay down the “enormous” debt.

We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER. We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion,” Trump wrote.

According to a September statement, the Treasury Department has collected $195 billion from tariffs in the first three quarters of the year.

This announcement from Trump comes amid the Supreme Court’s skepticism on the legality of the president’s use of powers to impose tariffs on almost every country in the world.

Trump has continually blasted the Supreme Court’s position on his tariffs.

Following his post announcing the $2,000 dividend, Trump created another post writing:

WITHOUT TARIFFS, WE HAVE NONE OF THE FOLLOWING (JUST POSTED) TRUTH!!! President DJT.

Earlier this year, Trump announced tariffs on trading partners including China, Canada, Mexico and the EU.

When questioned about Trump’s social media announcement, Bessent told ABC News on Sunday that he had not spoken with the president about the plan for $2,000 checks, but said that stimulus could come in many forms.

The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways,” Bessent said. “It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda — no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security – deductibility on auto loans.