President Donald Trump seems eager to share the wealth it seems. Trump remains “committed” to sending each American a $2,000 dividend check to be distributed from tariff revenue, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday.
“The president made it clear he wants to make it happen,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House. “So his team of economic advisers are looking into it.”
A tariff dividend may come “in lots of forms,” Bessent told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, adding that he had not spoken with Trump about the proposal.
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“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. Those are substantial deductions that are being financed in the tax bill,” Bessent added.
Trump announced the policy proposal in a brief message on social media on Sunday morning, focused on tariff-related tax revenue.
“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! 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,” the president wrote. “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”
If Trump were to make the dividend payments available to anyone earning $100,000 or less, the policy would reach about 150 million Americans, amounting to roughly $300 billion in dividends, Erica York, a policy expert at the Tax Foundation, said in a post on X.
As of 2025, no legislation has been passed to authorize the program, and no specific eligibility criteria, such as income thresholds or dependent status, have been officially established. Experts have raised concerns about whether tariff revenue alone could sustainably fund such payments, as tariffs constitute only a small portion of federal revenue and fluctuate based on trade activity.
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While the proposal reflects a policy approach focused on using trade-generated revenue for direct citizen benefits, it remains uncertain whether and how it could be executed. Budgetary, legislative, and economic factors could all affect the feasibility of the plan.
Consequently, the tariff dividend should be understood as a proposed policy rather than an enacted program. It highlights ongoing interest in direct financial measures as a form of economic stimulus, but also underscores the challenges in ensuring such measures are fiscally sustainable, legally authorized, and administratively practical in the context of U.S. governance.