Stimulus checks: Will Americans get $2,000 payout promised by Trump after Supreme Court strikes down tariffs?

In the months following the announcement of the sweeping US tariffs, President Donald Trump had announced $2,000 checks for all Americans with the money collected from the levies. However, that plan might be in a jeopardy after the Supreme Court on Friday struck down the US tariffs.

In a highly anticipated ruling on February 10, the Supreme Court ruled that the US tariffs imposed by Trump were illegal and the President exceeded his power by not consulting with the Congress before imposing the global levies.

“The President asserts the extraordinary power to unilaterally impose tariffs of unlimited amount, duration, and scope,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the 6-3 opinion. “In light of the breadth, history, and constitutional context of that asserted authority, he must identify clear congressional authorization to exercise it.”

Will US families get a $2,000 check?

The Supreme Court’s decision may come as a blow to middle income US families as there is now even less clarity on whether they would get any benefit from the tariff income that the Trump administration had made till now.

The Supreme Court ruling invalidated billions of dollars in “reciprocal” and emergency tariffs, potentially requiring the government to refund approximately $130-$175 billion in collected revenue.

This could put a dent on Trump’s plans to give a $2,000 stimulus check to low and middle income US families.

“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! … A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” he wrote on Truth Social in November.

He repeated the claim at the Oval Office the next day, “We are going to issue a dividend to our middle-income people and lower-income people of about $2,000 and we are going to use the remaining tariffs to lower our debt, we are going to be lowering our debt, which is a national security thing,” Donald Trump said, as per USA Today.

In the months following that, Trump had repeated several times about his intention to pay out these checks, though the Congress never cleared such a proposal.

Trump had repeated his $2,000 check claims up until January, when he told the New York Times, “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.”

However, there was no clear plan or timeline regarding the checks. The Trump administration also never gave any details about the checks, like the exact amount or when they will go out. Friday’s Supreme Court ruling made matters even more unclear.

The White House has also not commented on the $2,000 dividend, but said it was doing what is best for the American people.

Trump had indicated “WE’RE SCREWED!” if the Supreme Court did not rule in his favour.

However, the President did sign an executive order to impose a temporary 10% global tariff. The Trump administration, as well as the POTUS himself, said these tariffs were over and above the current levies that countries are paying with respect to their trade deals.