Trump’s $2K Dividend: Who Qualifies and How You’ll Get It
Written by
Heather Altamirano
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
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President Donald Trump wants to give American taxpayers a financial boost. He took to Truth Social to propose a $2,000 dividend per person, excluding high-income earners. The president explained in a separate post on Truth Social that funds for this dividend would come from tariffs on foreign goods, vowing that the money would provide relief to U.S. citizens and help the nation.
He said any remaining funds from the $2,000 payments provided to low- and middle-income Americans, generated through significant tariff revenue collected from other nations, will be directed toward meaningfully reducing the national debt.
While Trump has promised to give a $2,000 dividend, details are murky, but his administration has given a few updates. Here’s who might qualify and how Americans could receive the money.
Will the Dividend Really Happen?
USA Today reported that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump remains “committed” to the idea. “We are currently exploring all legal options to get that done,” she said.
“I can confirm for you that the president made it clear he wants to make it happen,” Leavitt explained. “And so his team of economic advisors are looking into it.”
Leavitt also noted that there is no timeline as of now and she had no further details, but said the president is pushing for the dividend to happen.
Who Qualifies for the $2,000 Dividend?
In his Truth Social post, Trump clearly stated that the $2,000 dividend would be for Americans who were not “high-earners,” but didn’t specify the exact income level needed to qualify. However, the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave an idea of what high income might look like on “Fox & Friends.”
“The president’s talking about a $2,000 rebate and that would be for families making less than, say, $100,000,” he said. But Bessent reiterated there was no solid plan.
How Americans Could Receive the Dividend
According to Bessent, who appeared on an episode of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” the dividend could come in “a lot of forms.” He said he hasn’t talked to Trump about the dividends, but speculated the ways Americans could see the $2,000.
“It could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the president’s agenda — no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on Social Security,” he said.
“Those are substantial deductions,” Bessent explained, listing the various ways the payment could be distributed.
While Trump has boasted on Truth Social that the tariffs have brought in “trillions of dollars,” critics are pushing back. Erica York, vice president of the non-partisan think tank Tax Foundation, pointed out that the statement wasn’t true in a post on X, where she noted that there would be a lack of funds if the dividend was actually implemented.
With an income cap of $100,000, around 150 million adults would be eligible, which would total about $300 billion. If children were included, the cost would increase further. The issue is that tariff collections have only generated about $120 billion so far, York said.
Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com.
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