Donald Trump gives new $2,000 stimulus check timeline

President Donald Trump has given a vague timeline for when Americans can expect the much-discussed “dividend” checks the administration has said it will send out and finance with the revenue from his tariffs.

In his wide-ranging interview with The New York Times on Thursday, Trump said he would be able to distribute these payments without congressional approval. When asked when citizens should expect the checks to arrive, he said, “I would say toward the end of the year.”

Why It Matters

The administration has provided few clear details regarding the timing or disbursement of the dividend checks, but officials have repeatedly previewed the idea of rebates funded with the billions of dollars Trump’s duties have accrued. Surveys show broad support for the proposal among Americans, who are craving financial relief while battling rising costs, a weakening job market and a developing crisis of affordability in the U.S.

However, some—including those within the administration—have downplayed the idea of a direct, tariff-funded payment, and experts are largely skeptical that these checks will ever materialize, given the funding needed would likely exceed the amount Trump’s tariffs have generated.

What To Know

In early November, Trump said his administration planned to issue a dividend of about $2,000 to lower- and middle-income Americans, funded by the “trillions of dollars” his tariffs were generating.

During a Cabinet meeting last month, Trump said the money made through his duties would allow the government to pay “a nice dividend to the people in addition to reducing debt.”

According to data from the Treasury Department, the U.S. collected $195 billion in customs duties in the fiscal year that ended September 30, with an additional $62 billion in total collected in October and November.

Experts believe that funding a $2,000 check—even when excluding affluent Americans, as Trump envisions—would require a far greater sum. The Tax Foundation’s Erica York told Newsweek this “would cost on the order of $300 billion or more.” An analysis by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimated that the idea could carry a price tag of about $600 billion, while increasing deficits by “$6 trillion over 10 years.”

York, the vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, previously told Newsweek that “sending out checks to Americans is a recipe for higher inflation at a time when inflation is still stubbornly too high.”

What People Are Saying

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a November news briefing: “The White House is committed to making [the tariff dividend] happen. Yes. And we are currently exploring all legal options to get that done. I don’t have a timeline for you or any further details, but I can confirm for you that the president made it clear he wants to make it happen.”

Maurice Obstfeld, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, previously told Newsweek: “Even if the $2,000 checks are awarded per household (not per person), and only to households earning less than $100,000 per year, the budgetary cost would be more than $200 billion.”

He added: “This sum is close to the revenue Trump’s tariffs will probably yield this year, and more than half of the cost of extending the Obamacare subsidies for 10 years.”

What Happens Next

The Supreme Court is soon expected to issue a judgment on the legality of Trump’s tariffs, after deliberating on a challenge from lower courts to the president’s tariff authorities. Some are anticipating a ruling as soon as Friday.