Donald Trump has floated the idea of giving Americans a $2,000 dividend, using money generated through his controversial tariff policy.
The president continues to claim the benefits of his economic plan despite widespread criticism, telling One America News Network that America’s $37 trillion national debt is “very little, relatively speaking” because of his “Liberation Day” tariffs.
In the same interview, he said that his tariffs will generate “trillion dollars a year”. Since April, tariff revenues have raised around $214 billion.
Now, Trump has said that he wants to use some of this money to give a “dividend to the people of America.”
“We’re thinking maybe $1,000 to $2,000 – it would be great,” he told One America News Network.
However, the president is still locked in a battle with the Supreme Court who are deciding whether his tariff policy is even legal.
In August, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that most of the president’s tariffs were not covered by the emergency powers law he used to impose them.
Following the court’s ruling that the tariffs were “invalid as contrary to law,” Trump claimed on Truth Social that the appeals court was “highly partisan.” He went on to say that reversing the tariffs would be a “total disaster for the country.”
His tariffs will remain in place, though, while his administration appeals the ruling at the Supreme Court.
Scott Bessent, Trump’s treasury secretary, has said that the government could be forced to refund between $750 billion and $1 trillion in projected revenue if the tariffs are found to be illegal.
Announced on April 2, which Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” the tariffs hit countries around the world, including some of America’s closest allies. At the time, the president claimed that the US had been “exploited” and “pillaged” by other countries because of the US trade deficit.
Trump has claimed that his approach to the economy has led to $17 trillion in foreign and domestic investment flooding into America. However, U.S., Representative Robert Garcia said that Trump was “living in a fantasy world.”
“If there is $17 trillion somewhere, the government doesn’t know about it,” he told MeidasTouch. “None of our committees have access to it. Treasury has no idea what the hell he’s talking about.”
Meanwhile, the federal government shut down continues after Congress failed to reach an agreement on funding for federal agencies.
Republicans control both houses of Congress, but need 60 votes in the Senate to have Trump’s spending plans approved.
Democrats are demanding that cuts made to Medicaid, set out in Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill,” must be reversed and subsidies in the Affordable Care Act extended before they agree to any spending plans.
