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Donald Trump struggled to recall when he offered Americans a $2,000 check from tariff revenue during an interview last week.
The president was speaking to four of The New York Times’ White House correspondents in the Oval Office when he drew a blank on his own comments.
During the two-hour interview, published on Sunday, Katie Rogers asked, “You’ve promised $2,000 checks to Americans based off of your tariff revenues. When can they expect those?”
- Trump forgot when he promised Americans $2,000 checks from tariff revenue during a NYT Oval Office interview.
- He claimed tariff revenue is 'so substantial' and expects the checks 'toward the end of the year.'
- Trump dismissed legal concerns, saying he doesn't need Congress to distribute tariff-based payments.
Donald Trump forgot when he offered Americans a cut of tariff revenue
Image credits: Alex Wong/Getty Images
“I did do that? When did I do that?” Trump responded.
As Rogers began to speak again, Trump interrupted, “Yeah, I’m thinking. Well, I did $1,776 for the military.”
Tyler Pager then pressed, “When will those Americans get those checks?”
The president described the tariff money as being “so substantial” that he would, at some point, be able to offer Americans $2,000.
“I would say toward the end of the year,” he said.
Zolan Kanno-Youngs questioned Trump on the legality of those proposed checks, asking, “Don’t you need Congress? Don’t you need Congress to help you with that?”
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Trump dismissed the concern, “No, I don’t believe we do. We have it coming in from other sources.”
While Trump floated the idea of paying some tariff revenue to the American people at various points last year, the comments referred to by NYT were made in November.
In a Truth Social post on November 9, Trump branded those opposed to tariffs as “fools” and announced a plan to send “at least” $2,000 to individual citizens.
That plan does not include those with high incomes, although Trump did not announce a salary threshold.
“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER,” Trump wrote.
Image credits: Donald Trump
“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.”
One day after Trump made the post, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calculated that those payments would cost $600 billion.
According to recent figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. has generated $200 billion in revenue from tariffs so far, and Trump has promised to use the funds for various purposes.
The legality of tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) of 1977 is also in question.
The Supreme Court will rule on the legality of tariffs imposed by Trump
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The law allows the president to “deal with any unusual and extraordinary threat, which has its source in whole or substantial part outside the United States, to the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the United States, if the President declares a national emergency with respect to such threat.”
Trump’s justification for those tariffs is that the U.S. trade deficit posed an “extraordinary and unusual threat.”
The Supreme Court is now deciding whether Trump had the authority to impose those tariffs after several small businesses and U.S. states launched legal challenges.
If the Supreme Court rules against Trump and agrees with three lower courts that his tariffs are illegal, it is understood that the U.S. could be forced to pay back about $150 billion, calculations by Reuters show.
Image credits: Alex Wong/Getty Images
It was an issue of great concern to the president, who posted on Truth Social on Monday that he was “screwed” if the justices ruled against him.
Trump said the “actual numbers” the government would have to pay back would be “many hundreds of billions of dollars.”
“That doesn’t include the amount of ‘payback’ that Countries and Companies would require for the Investments they are making on building Plants, Factories, and Equipment, for the purpose of being able to avoid the payment of Tariffs,” Trump noted.
“When these Investments are added, we are talking about Trillions of Dollars! It would be a complete mess, and almost impossible for our Country to pay.”
Image credits: Donald Trump
Trump further claimed that if it were possible to pay back the money, it would take years to figure out “what number we are talking about and even, who, when, and where, to pay.”
“In other words, if the Supreme Court rules against the United States of America on this National Security bonanza, WE’RE SCREWED!” Trump concluded.
A date for the Supreme Court ruling has not been announced, but it is expected as soon as Wednesday, January 14.
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