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President Donald Trump claimed that the United States was collecting "trillions of dollars" from tariffs that would be used for promised "dividend" checks to American citizens in 2026 during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday (December 2).
"Next year is projected to be the largest tax refund season ever, and we're going to be giving back refunds out of the tariffs," Trump said via FOX 5 Washington DC. "We're going to be giving a nice dividend to the people in addition to reducing debt. We, as you know, inherited a lot of debt, but it's peanuts compared to the kind of numbers we're talking about. So, we're going to be making a dividend to the people."
The president had previously confirmed that the payouts wouldn't be arriving in time for the Christmas shopping season, rather in 2026, which will coincide with the midterm election cycle.
“It will be next year. The tariffs allow us to give a dividend. We’re going to do a dividend and we’re also going to be reducing debt,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on November 14 via the New York Post.
Trump initially promised a $2,000 tariff "dividend" would be paid to most Americans in a post shared on his Truth Social account on November 9.
"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. 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," Trump wrote.