In a sign that things are definitely going well for his second term, Donald Trump is promising to send cash to every American. Tucked away in a series of posts on Truth Social that railed against recent setbacks for his tariff scheme, Trump promised a tariff dividend for every American worth several thousand dollars.
“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,” he wrote. “A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”
Trump championed several stimulus checks to millions of Americans during the coronavirus pandemic. Trump branded the payments, which totaled $814 billion, with his name. The influx of cash was not enough to overcome the general sentiment about his first term and handling of the pandemic. He lost to President Joe Biden, who issued one more stimulus payment.
The Supreme Court is weighing whether Trump’s imposition of tariffs on many of the United States’ trading partners was done legally. In oral arguments earlier this week, the justices seemed skeptical of the Trump administration’s defense and openly worried about whether Trump was usurping power from Congress. The promise of a payout could be seen as an effort to make ending the tariffs politically unpopular. In another post, Trump fumed about the Court’s expected decision.
‘The President of the United States is allowed (and fully approved by Congress!) to stop ALL TRADE with a Foreign Country (Which is far more onerous than a Tariff!), and LICENSE a Foreign Country, but is not allowed to put a simple Tariff on a Foreign Country, even for purposes of NATIONAL SECURITY,” he wrote. The whole thing is ridiculous! … HAS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT NOT BEEN TOLD THIS??? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON???”
