Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent found himself trying to clarify President Donald Trump’s recent promise, a $2,000 tariff dividend payment to most Americans. However, what Bessent described on ABC’s This Week sounded less like a check and more like a rebranding of tax breaks.
When host George Stephanopoulos pressed him about a solid plan, Bessent dodged the question. “The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways, George,” he said. He then listed examples that didn’t involve cash at all: “no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security,” and “deductibility of auto loans.” These comments raised eyebrows, suggesting a retraction of Trump’s sweeping promise made just hours earlier.
Trump, known for his bold statements, had posted on Truth Social that “a dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.” The post was typical Trump, filled with exclamation marks and self-praise. He called critics of his tariff policy “fools,” claiming his strong trade stance had made America “the Richest, Most Respected Country in the World.”
He went further, boasting that “401k’s are highest ever,” that the U.S. is “taking in trillions of dollars” from tariffs, and that the money would soon help “begin paying down our enormous debt, $37 trillion.”
Economists are skeptical because tariff revenues do not come close to the kind of money needed for a $2,000-per-person payout. Even the most optimistic estimates of customs duties and trade-related income fall hundreds of billions short. “It’s just not feasible,” one analyst told The Washington Post, noting that Bessent’s shift toward tax deductions appeared to be a more realistic, and politically safer, option.
Scott Bessent following President Trump’s Truth Social post on possible $2000 tariff stimulus check:
“The $2,000 divided could come in lots of forms. It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing. It could be no tax on tips.” pic.twitter.com/rMwSFLC1JN
— Tucker Carlson Network 🇺🇸 Fan Account (@TCNetworkFans) November 9, 2025
The legal basis for Trump’s tariffs is also in question. The Supreme Court heard arguments on November 5 about whether the president can keep imposing tariffs without congressional approval. Both liberal and conservative justices raised concerns about the legality of using the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which is mainly used for national security crises, as the foundation for major trade actions. Lower courts have already suggested that Trump’s interpretation stretches the law’s limits, and several judges have ruled that the president doesn’t have the authority to use it in this way.
For the White House, the timing could not be worse, as the Court’s upcoming decision could undermine Trump’s claim that tariffs are boosting government funds. Meanwhile, Bessent’s Sunday remarks indicated that even within the administration, there is no clear plan for how these so-called dividends would function.
In essence, Americans received two different messages. One is Trump promising cash, a patriotic payday funded by taxes on foreign goods. His Treasury Secretary offered something less clear, implying that the $2,000 could take shape as a mix of tax cuts and deductions.
For now, this remains a promise without a plan. Until there is a bill, a ruling, or a concrete Treasury plan, the “tariff dividend” stays more of a campaign slogan than an economic reality.
