Donald Trump addressed questions about his past statements on $2,000 tariff rebate checks during a recent interview. The president responded to reporters’ inquiries by questioning when he had made the pledge and later clarified when such payments could occur.
Donald Trump talks about $2K tariff checks
President Donald Trump introduced the idea of $2,000 rebate checks for Americans from tariff revenues in a Nov. 9, 2025, post on Truth Social, stating, “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high-income people!) will be paid to everyone.” He described critics of tariffs as “FOOLS” and claimed the U.S. was taking in “Trillions of Dollars.” However, when asked about this promise during a Jan. 2026 interview with The New York Times, Trump responded, “I did do that? When did I do that?” before later stating, “Well, I did $1,776 for the military.”
During the same interview, Trump responded to a question about the timeline for the $2,000 checks. He answered, “The tariff money is so substantial… I’ll be able to do $2,000 sometime. I would say toward the end of the year.” When asked if Congressional approval was needed, Trump said, “No, I don’t believe we do. We have it coming in from other sources.”
On Dec. 18, 2025, Trump and the Department of Defense announced a “Warrior Dividend” of $1,776 to nearly 1.5 million service members. Trump credited the payment to the Big Beautiful Bill. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later told ABC News on Nov. 12, 2025, that he and Trump had not discussed a public tariff rebate. On Nov. 18, Bessent said on Fox News that Americans should save any rebates to avoid inflation.
In a Nov. 24, 2025, Truth Social post, Trump said the tariffs’ “amounts payable to the USA will SKYROCKET.” He added that Americans had not yet felt “the full benefit of the Tariffs” and were “looking forward” to a Supreme Court ruling on their legality. If the court rules the tariffs illegal, the Treasury Department may issue refunds of up to $774 billion, according to Bessent on Jan. 9, 2026.
