Trump’s $2,000 “dividend” plan rests on an illusion:
that tariffs are a magic ATM the president can tap at will.
In reality, the tariffs have generated less than a fraction of what’s needed,
much of it already locked in legal limbo.
If the Supreme Court rules that Trump abused emergency
powers to impose those tariffs, the government could be forced to return money
to importers instead of mailing checks to voters.
Even if the courts allowed the scheme, Congress would still have to design and approve it — deciding who counts as
“working families,” how to exclude higher earners, and whether any help arrives as cash,
tax credits, or not at all. For now, what millions actually hold is not a check,
but déjà vu: another sweeping promise, delivered from a podium,
that dissolves on contact with law, math, and the slow grind of governing.
