Wall Street Journal dismisses Trump $2K dividend idea: 'Hail Mary pass'

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) editorial board panned President Trump’s proposal to provide $2,000 tariff rebate checks to most Americans, calling it a “Hail Mary pass.” 

“President Trump has a big tariff problem: His border taxes are raising prices on tariffed goods, they’re unpopular with voters, and the Supreme Court might rule that his “emergency” tariffs are illegal,” the WSJ board said Sunday.

Trump, in a Sunday Truth Social post, said every American — excluding “high income” individuals — will receive a $2,000 dividend from the revenue the federal government has collected from tariffs he has imposed on foreign trading partners. 

Through September, the Treasury Department has collected $195 billion from tariffs this year, an increase of 250 percent, or $118 billion, from fiscal 2024. 

The president also said that his administration will use the tariffs to pay down the $38.12 trillion national debt. The WSJ editorial board, however, called the dueling policy proposals a “contradiction,” noting that sending rebate checks to most Americans would add to the national debt. 

The White House or Treasury Department have not specified which income brackets would qualify for the dividend, or how much they would cost the country.

Since the president imposed the sweeping tariffs in April, firms have passed down much of the costs to consumers. A Goldman Sachs analysis in October found that U.S. consumers will shoulder 55 percent of the tariffs’ costs this year.

The WSJ editorial board, citing the economic and political costs of the tariffs, said that Trump” is trying to dull the public’s tariff pain with direct payments that he can take credit for.”

“This is a new version of the age-old income redistribution game of taxing people too much but then trying to appease them with tax credits or one-time cash payments,” the board added. “Democrats do this all the time with child tax credits and other favors to special-interest groups.”

The Trump administration defended the tariffs in front of the Supreme Court last week, arguing the president has the authority to impose the levies under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Source: The Hill