Rhiannon Ingle
United States President Donald Trump has opened up about his $2,000 tariff dividend and has revealed one group which will not receive the benefit.
According to the US Treasury, the Trump administration has collected more than $220 billion in tariff revenue, which includes a mix of various tariffs the president has imposed and previous tariffs that were in place before he took office.
And, given that more than 163 million Americans filed tax returns in 2024, per the IRS, an initial calculation would put $2,000 checks at a total cost of about $326 billion, which is more than the tariff revenue America has collected since Trump’s second term began.
While American importers fork out for the initial tariff bill, they’ve been passing over some of those added costs to consumers, which effectively means that Americans are indirectly paying for tariffs, too.
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Now, Trump has previously mentioned the possibility of a tariff dividend payment for millions of Americans, but until now, he hasn't specified who would get a cut of the cash.
For those not in the know, a dividend is the distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders - so in this instance, Trump is promising to send American citizens rebate checks for the tariffs that his administration has collected, CNN explains.
Taking to Truth Social on Sunday (9 November), the 79-year-old Republican explained he would exclude wealthy Americans from the benefit.
However, he didn't make it clear where the cut-off would be and whether that could make up for the difference.
He penned: "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.
"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."
Trump later added in a follow-up post shared on Monday (10 November): "All money left over from the $2000 payments made to low and middle income USA Citizens, from the massive Tariff Income pouring into our Country from foreign countries, which will be substantial, will be used to SUBSTANTIALLY PAY DOWN NATIONAL DEBT.
"Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DJT."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed Trump's tariff dividend on Sunday on ABC’s This Week, noting that no formal plan has been presented for distributing tariff revenue.
He added that Trump’s reference to a $2,000 payment 'could take many forms', potentially including compensation for lost revenue from untaxed tips, overtime, or Social Security payments.