President Donald Trump pledged over the weekend to give every American a $2,000 dividend to be distributed from what he said would be tariff revenue.
“A dividend of at least $2,000 per person (not including high earners!) will be paid to everyone,” the president wrote in part on social media on Sunday.
But within hours, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cast doubt on the plan, saying the payout could only be tied to tax savings enshrined in Trump’s signature domestic spending measure.
Tariff dividends could take “many forms,” Bessent told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday, adding that he had not discussed the proposal with Trump.
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The idea of a potential tariff dividend, reminiscent of pandemic-era stimulus checks, has raised questions about who would qualify and what to make of the Trump administration’s mixed signals about the proposal. Some economists have questioned whether the dividend is achievable with the available tariff funds.
Here’s what you need to know about the proposed $2,000 rate dividend.
What is a dividend?
The term “dividend” generally describes a payment to individual shareholders financed from the company’s profits.
In this case, the concept works similarly, referring to the benefits to Americans that are funded by the taxes raised by Trump’s high tariffs.
The proposal mirrors three stimulus checks sent to Americans during the pandemic, two of which Trump authorized. Those three payments totaled $3,200 per taxpayer and $2,500 per child, according to the Congressional Watchdog Pandemic Response Committee.
What did Trump say about the potential dividend of the $2,000 tariff?
Trump announced the policy proposal Sunday morning in a brief message on social media, focusing on the tax revenue associated with the tariffs.
“People who oppose tariffs are STUPID! We are now the richest, most respected country in the world with almost no inflation and a record high stock market. 401k is the highest EVER,” the president wrote. “Everybody will get a dividend of at least $2,000 per person (not including high earners!).
The notice did not specify who would be eligible for the benefit or how the policy would work.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters, Files – PHOTO: The United States Supreme Court building is seen in Washington, D.C., in 2023. October 4
Who could receive a $2,000 dividend?
It’s unclear who would qualify for the payment, though Trump said the measure would exclude “high-income earners.”
Pandemic-era stimulus checks approved by Trump were available to individuals contributing as little as $75,000 a year and to couples making up to $150,000. Within these guidelines, higher earners could receive lower benefits.
Last year, the median household income in the U.S. was $83,730, the Census Bureau found.
Did Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have doubts about dividend checks?
Hours after Trump’s announcement, Treasury Secretary Bessent appeared to throw cold water on tariff-related dividend checks.
On Sunday, Bessent suggested the $2,000 in savings could be due to tax cuts previously included in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which he signed into law on July 4.
“It might just be the tax cuts that we see in the president’s agenda. No deductions for tips, overtime taxes, Social Security taxes, auto loan deductions. These are big deductions that are funded out of the tax bill,” Bessent told ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.
“The real purpose of tariffs is to balance trade and make it fairer,” Bessent added.
Trump and Bessent’s dueling remarks came days after the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether the president has the constitutional power to unilaterally impose tariffs. Arguing on behalf of the Trump administration, Solicitor General John Sauer downplayed the revenue-raising aspect of the policy, saying the tariffs do not infringe on the taxing power given to Congress under the Constitution.
“The fact that [the tariffs] revenue enhancement is only incidental,” Sauer told the judges.
Did the US collect enough tariff revenue to fund the $2,000 checks?
If Trump paid the dividend to everyone making $100,000 or less, the policy would reach about 150 million Americans, resulting in roughly $300 billion in dividends, Tax Foundation policy expert Erica York told X.
According to the Treasury Department, on September 30 the federal government received $195 billion. USD of tariff-related revenue.
Based on this math, the estimated $300 billion
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Taking into account only the revenue from Trump’s new taxes and subtracting some of the policy’s negative budgetary impact, York estimates that net tariff revenue was just $90 billion. USD, which is still less than the required 300 billion.
Also, depending on how the Supreme Court rules on Trump’s legal authority to levy tariffs, the White House could be forced to refund tens of billions of dollars in income taxes to importers, the Committee on a Responsible Federal Budget found.
In theory, however, the Trump administration could promise to pay dividends from anticipated tariff revenue. The Treasury Department projected $3 trillion in tariff revenue over the next decade. According to the Treasury Department, if the Trump administration chooses this path, the dividend payments would add to the federal debt, which currently stands at more than $38 trillion.
