Hoping for a $2,000 tariff dividend check? Trump is giving mixed messages.

• President Donald Trump appears to have walked back his promise of $2,000 tariff rebate checks.
• Trump previously proposed payouts funded by tariff revenue amid affordability concerns.
• Tariff revenue may be insufficient as Trump prioritizes debt reduction and defense spending.

If you have been hoping for a $2,000 tariff rebate check, it may not come.

President Donald Trump gave mixed messages about the issues in a recent interview with The New York Times.

"You've promised $2,000 checks to Americans based off of your tariff revenues. When can they expect those?" Times reporter Katie Rogers asked.

"I did do that? When did I do that?" Trump said. "Yeah, I'm thinking. Well, I did $1,776 for the military."

When Tyler Pager, another Times journalist, followed up, asking when the checks would come, Trump replied that "the tariff money is so substantial."

"That's coming in, that I'll be able to do $2,000 sometime," Trump said. "I would say toward the end of the year."

In November, Trump posted on Truth Social proposing a $2,000 payout to all US citizens with low or middle incomes, because the government is "taking in so much money" from tariffs. According to a recent Supreme Court filing, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent estimated that the federal government may have collected around $1 trillion in tariffs.

"People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS!" Trump posted on Truth Social on November 9. "A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone."

Even if the Supreme Court doesn't rule his tariffs enacted under emergency powers unconstitutional in its coming decision, revenue generated by the duties may be spread too thin for a payout to Americans.

Later in the interview with the Times, Trump said that the tariff revenue will go toward reducing federal government debt and funding national defense.

According to the Treasury, the national debt as of January is around $38.40 trillion, and rose by $2.17 trillion in 2025. If Bessent's estimate on tariff revenue is correct, the total amount collected over the past year would cover less than 50% of the increase in debt.

Trump also recently called for increasing the defense budget to $1.5 trillion for the fiscal year 2027. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that the move would add $5.8 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.

Trump has promised or suggested a number of payouts to Americans in his second term, including a $5,000 DOGE check, a $10,000 bonus for air traffic controllers with perfect attendance during the government shutdown, $1,000 to Trump Accounts for children who are citizens, and a $1,776 "warrior dividend" for active military members.

As for whether Trump even has the power to issue the checks, Congress, not the presidency, has the power of the purse and can make those appropriations.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.