Donald Trump has set out a tentative timetable for sending Americans $2,000 payments funded by his tariff policy, telling reporters that the first so-called “dividend” cheques would not be ready until sometime in 2026, even as key details of the plan remain unclear and the underlying tariffs face legal and political challenges.
The former president first ignited expectations earlier in November when he used his social media platform to claim that the United States was earning so much money from tariffs that it could both pay down its debts and send a sizeable cash payment to most citizens. In a post that quickly circulated online, Trump wrote: “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. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”
He presented the idea as a windfall generated by his aggressive use of import duties, arguing that the levies had transformed the US into a nation flush with cash and able to reward its people directly. Trump also tied the proposal to the national debt, saying tariff revenues were so strong that they would allow the government to start paying down what he described as “our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion” while still funding the payments.
In the days that followed, the White House confirmed that the administration was actively working on a mechanism to deliver the promised $2,000 per person. Officials framed the plan as a way of redirecting money raised at the border back to households, emphasising that better-off Americans would be excluded. According to the administration’s own description, the proposed cheques would be targeted at low and middle-income families rather than the wealthiest earners.