U.S. President, Donald Trump, has started a new debate in the U.S. by stating the government could send direct payments to American citizens, but the amount of money would be from $1,000 to $2,000 per person! The most striking thing about this is that this proposal won’t be funded with government debts like it happened with stimulus checks in the past, but from tariffs the U.S. collects from taxes on imported goods.
Trump said his intention is to directly benefit citizens and reduce national debt. According to him, it would be like giving a ‘’dividend’’ to Americans, kind of like a special payment that comes from the money collected by commerce policies of his government. So, let’s see more about this.
How would these direct payments work?
Trump’s idea is based on the great amount of money the federal government has gained from tariffs to import products. These taxes are applied to products that come from foreign countries and are one of the income sources of the country.
In 2025, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reported the government earned more than $214.9 billion due to this kind of tax. Trump considers that part of those funds could be divided among citizens as direct payments. However, the proposal is not as easy as it seems because the Supreme Court is analyzing if the president has legal authority to impose those tariffs without the approval from the Congress.
If judges determine Trump exceeded his functions, the government could lose the source of money that would make these direct payments possible.
What Trump said
During an interview with One America News, Donald Trump confirmed the plan is being reviewed by his team. He said: “We’re going to do something — we’re studying something. Number one, we’re paying down the debt, because people have allowed the debt to go crazy. We might as well do a distribution to the people, almost like a dividend for the people of the United States. We’re thinking maybe $1,000 to $2,000; that would be great.”
With these words Trump clarified he aims to use the money already collected to give back part of that money to citizens through direct payments.
Where would the money come from?
According to Trump, the funds would come from the billions of dollars obtained through the tariffs applied to products from numerous countries. He explained this measure would be economically worth it since the money already exists, it’s not borrowed.
Not the first time
This proposal is not completely new since at the beginning of 2025, Elon Musk, who at that moment was in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), proposed giving Americans $5,000 checks. However, that plan never happened, and Musk later left his government position.
Now, Trump proposes a similar idea, but the difference is that the direct payments would be funded with money from tariffs.
How realistic is this proposal?
There are 2 main factors that are crucial to make this plan possible:
- Legal approval of the tariffs: If the Supreme Court rules against them, the source of funding disappears.
- Government support: Congress and the Treasury would still need to approve how the money is distributed.
If both factors are positive, millions of Americans could receive direct payments worth between $1,000 and $2,000.
What would this mean for citizens?
If Trump’s proposal is approved, millions of citizens could experience a temporary economic relief (although we don’t know yet who would be eligible or when these payments will be sent). So, what do you think about Trump’s plan? We’ll se how everything goes and if this will be more positive than negative for the country.