President Trump said Sunday that most Americans would receive a $2,000 dividend payment as a result of his administration’s tariffs levied against foreign countries.
Trump announced the potential payments on his Truth Social platform, calling opponents of his tariffs “FOOLS” in a post.
“We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion,” the president wrote. “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.”
Congressional approval would likely be necessary to provide the payments. There is no specific plan at this point for the dividends, which could cost the government hundreds of billions of dollars.
The post by Trump comes after a difficult week for the president.
The Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that questions whether Trump exceeded his authority in levying tariffs against foreign nations without congressional support. Most of the justices on the bench, including conservative justices such as Chief Justice John G. Roberts, appeared skeptical of the president’s authority under the Constitution.
Most of the justices seemed to take the view that the Constitution gives Congress the power to raise taxes, duties and tariffs, not the president.
That blow came on the heels of Democratic wins throughout the country on Tuesday.
Since taking office, Trump has implemented steep tariffs on specific goods as well as particularly high tariffs on goods from specific countries such as India and Brazil.
Trump said in remarks on Thursday at the White House that revocation of the tariffs would be “devastating” for the U.S.
On Sunday in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that he had not yet spoken with Trump about the proposed dividend.
“The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms and lots of ways,” Bessent said.