US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he is considering giving Americans up to $2,000 in rebates from revenues generated by his tariff policies, calling the payments a “dividend to the people of America.”“They’re just starting to kick in,” Trump said in an interview with One America News Network, referring to the tariffs imposed on foreign nations since April. “Ultimately, your tariffs are going to be over a trillion dollars a year,” he added.When the reporter asked about the potential size of the rebate, the US president declared, “We’re thinking maybe $1,000 to $2,000 – it would be great.”Trump said the funds would first be used to reduce the US national debt, currently at $37 trillion, which he described as “very little, relatively speaking” given the surge in government revenue from tariffs.“Number one, we’re paying down debt,” Trump stated, “because people have allowed the debt to go crazy.” “With that being said, we’ll pay back debt, but we also might make a distribution to the people,” he added.According to Treasury data cited by Fox Business, the federal government has collected approximately $214.9 billion from tariffs so far this year. September’s tariff revenue reached $31.3 billion, $73 million lower than August’s record.Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had earlier projected that the total tariff revenue could reach at least $300 billion by year-end.The proposal comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear a case in early November to determine whether the president has the authority to impose broad tariffs. Earlier rulings by lower courts and the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit questioned the legality of most of Trump’s levies but allowed them to remain in effect pending appeal. Bessent also asserted the top court that if the tariffs are ruled illegal, the government could be required to refund between $750 billion and $1 trillion in collected and projected revenue.
