Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that Congress would have to authorize the $2,000 checks President Trump proposes to send to most Americans.
With the White House focusing on questions of affordability following Republican losses on Election Day earlier this month, Trump has said he wants to send “dividend” payments to all but those with high incomes, drawing on revenues generated by the tariffs he has imposed on trading partners around the world.
In an interview with Fox News, Bessent was equivocal about the effort, which he said would target “working families” as defined by an income limit of perhaps $100,000. “We will see,” Bessent told Fox’s Maria Bartiromo. “We need legislation for that.”
Bessent also highlighted policies backed by the Trump administration that he said are already saving people money, including no taxes on tips, Social Security and overtime pay.
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump indicated that any effort to provide checks would have to wait until 2026. “It will be next year,” he said en route to his private club in Florida. “The tariffs allow us to give a dividend. We’re going to do a dividend and we’re also going to be reducing debt.”
In remarks delivered at the White House Monday, Trump suggested that the program could materialize next summer. “We're going to be issuing dividends later on, somewhere prior to, you know, probably the middle of next year, a little bit later than that,” he told reporters. “Thousands of dollars for individuals of moderate income, middle income.”
Economists have calculated that it would cost more than $200 billion to distribute checks, with the price tag rising as high as $600 billion depending on how the program is designed. An analysis by the Yale Budget Lab estimates that total tariff revenues will come to $228 billion on a static basis and $183 billion on a dynamic basis in 2026.
If Congress decides to dedicate those revenues to “dividend” payments — a big if, given the concerns among many lawmakers about both inflation and the $38 trillion national debt — it would leave little room for debt reduction, or even reductions in the budget deficit, which is projected to top $2 trillion annually starting in 2027.