A Stunning Lapse: Trump Forgets Crucial Promise In Viral Moment

Donald Trump has promised, more than once in the last year, to present dividend checks to Americans from the revenue earned from his signature tariff policy. He specifically said, in a November Truth Social post, that “a dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high-income people!) will be paid to everyone.

That policy has been debated and discussed in the months since, with some wonks even presenting analysis of whether or not the government can afford it, with most concluding that it can’t.

But now, Trump has implied that he never made any such promise.

NYT: “You promised $2,000 checks to Americans based off of your tariff revenues. When can —”

Trump: “I did do that? When did I do that?”

Trump can’t keep track of all his lies. pic.twitter.com/tw4z1SSI6Y

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) January 12, 2026

Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.

By subscribing, you agree to receive emails from Political Tribune and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and terms of service. You further agree that the use of reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy and Terms of Use.

Per The Daily Beast, a reporter asked Trump Monday when the checks might be going out.

“I did do that?,” Trump asked during his New York Times interview.

The transcript lists the following:

Katie Rogers

You’ve promised $2,000 checks to Americans based off of your tariff revenues. When can they expect those?

President Trump

I did do that? When did I do that?

Katie Rogers

Well, I mean, your —

President Trump

Yeah, I’m thinking. Well, I did $1,776 for the military.

Tyler Pager

When will those Americans get those checks?

President Trump

Well, I am going to — the tariff money is so substantial. That’s coming in, that I’ll be able to do $2,000 sometime. I would say toward the end of the year.

It’s been questioned very seriously whether $2,000 checks can be afforded by the Treasury, or whether they’re even a good policy idea, as stimulus checks of the past have often been inflationary.

The Committee for a Responsible Budget, in an analysis late last year, concluded that the money brought in from tariffs would not be sufficient to afford $2,000 tariffs for all or even most Americans:

On a revenue neutral basis, current tariffs could be used to pay a $2,000 dividend every other year, starting in early 2027.
If the Supreme Court upholds lower court rulings – in which case most of President Trump’s tariffs would be illegal – income from President Trump’s remaining tariffs would be sufficient to pay $2,000 dividends after seven years.
Using income from tariffs to pay dividends would mean that income could not be used to reduce deficits or offset borrowing from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Using all the tariff revenue for rebates would push debt to 127% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2035 instead of 120% under current law; if $2,000 dividends are paid annually, debt would reach 134% of GDP.

Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.