Treasury Secretary Bessent Explains Trump’s $2,000 Tariff Dividend: Here’s How Americans Will Receive It

United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday addressed confusion surrounding the proposed $2,000 tariff dividend that President Donald Trump recently mentioned on social media. Bessent said while he had not discussed the matter with Trump, the dividend could take various forms, including tax reductions and other fiscal measures.

Speaking to ABC News, Bessent listed out a few areas where these dividends could likely come from. "The $2,000 dividend could come in lots of forms, in lots of ways," Bessent said. "You know, it could be just the tax decreases that we are seeing on the President's agenda -- you know, no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax on social security, deductibility of auto loans,” the Treasury Secretary said.

His remarks followed after Trump earlier called the opponents of tariffs “fools”. Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, he said: “! 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 further added in his post, “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 $2,000 a person (not including high-income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

Trump’s latest post on Truth Social came days after he acknowledged last week that US consumers were paying more for goods due to the tariffs he had imposed. This marks a shift from his earlier rhetoric, in which the US President claimed his policy had benefited Americans overall.

The sweeping tariffs were imposed by Trump on April 2, which he labelled as 'Liberation Day' for America. Country‑specific “reciprocal” tariffs were also imposed by Trump on dozens of nations in a bid to encourage US consumers to buy domestic products.

Since then, the US has held trade talks with various countries, including China, hoping to secure favourable agreements.