President Donald Trump's proposal to give Americans $2,000 tariff dividends could carry a hefty price tag, according to a new analysis by a budget watchdog.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that the federal government is looking to pay out the dividends by mid-2026, which would fall ahead of the midterm elections. The timing could depend on Congress, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said legislation would be needed to authorize the dividends.
"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," Trump said. "Thousands of dollars for individuals of moderate income, middle income."
The president announced the proposal in a post last week on his Truth Social platform, saying that "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."
The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimated that if Trump's tariff dividends are structured like the COVID-19 era stimulus payments that went to adults and children after accounting for income levels, each round of tariff payments would cost about $600 billion on an annual basis.