President Donald Trump talking to reporter aboard Air Force One on December 9, 2025 (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley/Flickr)
U.S. President Donald Trump's steep tariffs are drawing vehement criticism from economists on both the left and the right. From liberals Paul Krugman and Robert Reich to right-wing disciples of the late Milton Friedman, many economists are attacking Trump's tariffs as a recipe for inflation and higher prices. Trump, however, continues to double down on his tariffs, claiming that they will enable the United States to pay down its federal deficit and even eliminate federal income taxes.
Trump is also saying that tariffs can be used to pay for an increased military budget, but MS NOW's Steve Benen takes issue with that claim in a January 8 column.
"Making matters worse is the fact that Trump has told Americans that he intends to use tariff revenue to reduce the national debt," Benen argues. "And to pay for 'dividend' rebate checks. And to pay for a bailout for farmers. And even to finance a new nationwide system of free child care for American families. In recent months, the president has even gone so far as to suggest more than once that tariff revenue will be so robust, he might eventually be able to use the money to eliminate federal income taxes altogether."
Benen adds, "Now, the president intends to also use this same pile of money to increase military spending by $500 billion."
But Trump's math, Benen emphasizes, doesn't hold up.
"There's an old accounting joke that 'you can't spend the same dollar twice,'" Benen writes. "Under Trump, it's tempting to revise the line to 'you can't spend the same dollar six times, especially when you don’t have that dollar.' Last summer, Trump boasted online, '(Our) Country is doing very well and can afford just about anything.' This bogus assumption has led to him to make all kinds of promises that he'll never be able to keep."
Steve Benen's full MS NOW op-ed is available at this link.
