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The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board has criticized President Trump’s recent proposal to distribute $2,000 tariff rebate checks to the majority of Americans, describing it as a “Hail Mary pass.”
According to the WSJ board, Trump faces significant challenges with his tariff policies: they are increasing prices on goods subjected to these border taxes, losing favor with voters, and potentially facing legal challenges from the Supreme Court over their legitimacy as “emergency” tariffs. This was detailed in a Sunday editorial by the journal.
In a post on Truth Social, also on Sunday, Trump announced that every American, except those classified as “high income,” would receive a $2,000 dividend funded by revenues collected from the tariffs he has imposed on international trade partners.
As of September, the Treasury Department has reported collecting $195 billion in tariffs this year, marking a 250 percent increase, or $118 billion, compared to the fiscal year 2024.
President Trump has also stated his intention to use these tariff revenues to reduce the national debt, which currently stands at $38.12 trillion. However, the WSJ editorial board criticized this approach as contradictory, pointing out that distributing rebate checks to most Americans could potentially exacerbate the national debt situation.
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.