"During the COVID-19 pandemic, the one policy Donald Trump consistently favored was the mailing of "stimulus checks" (technically, economic-impact payments) to individual taxpayers, bearing his signature, as though this federal-government largesse was a gift from the president himself. Indeed, he pitched a temper tantrum not long before his first term ended because the stimulus checks Congress authorized him to send out were $600, while he much preferred $2,000."
"Trump's desire for a $2,000 check he could take credit for survived his four years out of power. Early this year, he embraced an incredibly half-baked idea to give taxpayers a $5,000 "DOGE Dividend," to reflect the vast savings that Elon Musk was then claiming he was going to generate from chainsawing federal agencies. Unfortunately, DOGE wasn't saving much of anything at all, so people waiting for their $5,000 checks were disappointed."
"His latest big idea is a "tariff dividend," as broadcast by a Truth Social post on November 9, shortly after affordability-obsessed voters gave his party a spanking: We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone"
Donald Trump consistently favored mailing stimulus checks to taxpayers and pressed for larger payouts, preferring $2,000 over $600 during his first term. He later promoted a proposed $5,000 "DOGE Dividend" tied to projected savings from agency cuts that did not materialize. Trump continues seeking signature-branded cash distributions and announced a "tariff dividend" promising at least $2,000 per person (excluding high-income individuals) funded by tariff receipts and pitched as a way to pay down national debt. These proposals rely on uncertain revenue sources and effectively repurpose tariffs as redistributive instruments that shift costs onto consumers and trade.
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