What we know about Trump’s $2,000 stimulus check promise

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Donald Trump has claimed that most U.S. citizens will receive “at least” $2,000 in revenue generated from his controversial tariffs.

In a fiery Truth Social post, the president branded anyone who opposed his tariff policies as “FOOLS” and claimed that the scheme had made the country the “richest, most respected country in the world.”

However, the Trump Administration is currently embroiled in a contentious court battle over the legality of his tariffs, leaving many questions about the policy’s future unanswered, which is a central plank of his governance plan.

“We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price,” Trump bragged on Truth Social yesterday. “401k’s are Highest EVER.

“We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion.

“Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

The idea that money generated by the tariffs could be used to pay U.S. citizens directly has been teased by Trump for months. In October, he told One America News Network that the payment could be rolled out in the form of a “dividend.”

What could Trump’s “dividend” look like?

Scott Bessent, Trump’s Treasury Secretary, has already blurred the lines on what the payment could actually look like.

Appearing on ABC News’ show This Week, he claimed that the “$2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, lots of ways.”

“It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda,” Bessent said. “You know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security. Deductibility of auto loans.”

Trump’s tariff policy directly charges American businesses and importers, though, with companies being forced to pay the levy when buying products from overseas.

This policy has funnelled $195 billion into the government’s coffers, which, according to The Hill, is a 250 percent increase in the amount of money raised by tariffs from 2024.

Are Trump’s tariffs even legal?

Trump must first contend with the legality of his own policy before he can offer dividends to U.S. citizens.

The president has fought all the way up to the Supreme Court in a bid to get his tariffs recognised as constitutional, after lower courts ruled that they were unlawful.

On Wednesday, justices grilled US Solicitor General D John Sauer over the policy.

Much of the questioning centered on Trump’s invocation of a 1977 law that allows the president to impose tariffs during a state of emergency. In normal circumstances, tariffs are imposed by Congress.

His use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act allowed him to slap allies, including the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan, and South Korea, with eye-watering levies, which have heightened global tensions.

If Trump’s tariffs are ruled to be unlawful, the United States may have to refund tens of billions of dollars to its allies and importers who have had to pay the increased charges.

His tariffs have also been controversial with voters. Many of the protestors at No King’s Rallies across the country were seen holding signs that read “tariffs are killing my business.”

Since the levy has increased the price of imported goods, other Republicans have also criticized the president.

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene publicly refuted the idea that the president has effectively tackled inflation and rising grocery prices.

“I go to the grocery store myself. Grocery prices remain high,” she told CNN. “Energy prices are high.

“My electricity bills are higher here in Washington, D.C., at my apartment, and they’re also higher at my house in Rome, Georgia — higher than they were a year ago. So, affordability is a problem.”

Did Trump offer stimulus checks during his first administration?

The Trump administration has not yet laid out a detailed plan for the proposed “dividend.”

However, during his first administration, Trump signed two stimulus checks proposals into law.

The first gave $1,200 to each person who filed their taxes and $500 per child, after the country locked down in March 2020.

The second stimulus checks were issued in December of that same year, with $600 given to each tax filer and an additional $ 600 allocated for each of their children.

Joe Biden’s stimulus checks dwarfed Trump’s, with each tax filer getting $1,400 and married couples getting $2,800. Each child was allocated $1,400.

It is unknown whether Trump’s new stimulus check policy will function in the same way, with his first two rounds being available to individuals earning up to $75,000 per year and couples who make a collective $150,000.