Tariff dividend: Trump says when he thinks checks could be issued

FULL: Trump meets with FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force

President Trump met with the FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force in the Oval Office on Monday. The World Cup is slated to take place in the United States next year. He then took questions from reporters.

President Donald Trump is offering more information on his plan to issue $2,000 tariff dividend checks to some Americans. 

Here’s the latest on what he’s proposing: 

Trump tariff dividend

The backstory:

Earlier this month, Trump touted the successes he said his administration has seen after implementing his tariffs, and said that "A dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high income people!) would be paid to everyone." 

At the time, Trump gave no other details about if and when the checks were actually coming, or which high-income people could be excluded. 

RELATED: Tariff dividend: What Trump is again saying about possible 2025 stimulus checks

Trump tariff dividend timeline

US President Donald Trump, from left, Gianni Infantino, president of the Federation International Football Association (FIFA), and Marco Rubio, US secretary of state, during a FIFA Task Force meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washingto

Expand

What they're saying:

On Monday, Trump took questions in the Oval Office while meeting with the FIFA World Cup 2026 Task Force and doubled down on the idea of a tariff dividend.

He suggested the checks could be issued sometime in mid to late 2026. 

"We've taken in hundreds of millions of dollars in tariff money. We're going to be issuing dividends later on, some somewhere prior to, you know, probably in the middle of next year, a little bit later than that, of thousands of dollars for individuals of moderate income, middle income," he said, adding that the administration will also be using the money to pay down the national debt. 

The other side:

Over the weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested a tariff dividend check could only be accomplished with legislation. 

"We need legislation for that," Bessent said in an exclusive interview on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures." "Thanks to him keeping his campaign promises to working Americans … the working class … [no] tax on tips, Social Security overtime, we are going to see a big bump there in the first quarter with the refunds and the real incomes … Sending $2,000 refunds … that would be for working families. We'll have an income limit."

Tariff revenue

Big picture view:

The Trump administration has said it has collected billions of dollars in tariff revenue. 

By the numbers:

In September, the Trump administration said it collected $31.3 billion in tariff revenue, $73 million below the August record. So far in 2025, the Treasury Department says the U.S. has collected $214.9 billion in tariff revenue.

READ MORE: Supreme Court hears arguments over whether President Trump overstepped his authority to impose tariffs

Meanwhile:

The Supreme Court heard arguments last week over whether Trump’s trade policy is legal. Challengers say Trump is illegally using an emergency law to claim nearly limitless tariff power and American small businesses are paying the price.

RELATED: Stimulus payment November 2025, IRS direct deposit relief payment & tariff dividend fact check

2025 stimulus checks

The backstory:

This isn’t the first time Trump has discussed the idea of giving stimulus checks to Americans since his return to the Oval Office. 

Last month, he said during an interview with One America News that he was looking at sending stimulus checks worth $1,000 - $2,000.

And earlier this year, when Elon Musk was running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), he and Trump were considering $5,000 stimulus checks from savings DOGE found in cutting federal costs, but it never came to fruition.