First there were the $5000 DOGE dividend checks. Then there were the $2000 tariff rebate checks. And now there are the tax refund checks.
The first two never materialized.
And yet, according to The New York Times, President Donald Trump “has reprised a familiar political strategy: promise people cash.”
“The White House is trying to tamp down Americans’ economic anxieties by dangling the prospect of checks and other paydays next year, hoping that the money might assuage voters who blame the president for their rising cost of living.”
The president promised that on day one that he would end inflation, lower the cost of living, and make America affordable again, and he promised within 18 months Americans would see their electric bills cut in half.
“Americans give President Donald Trump his worst approval ratings ever for his handling of the economy, as they also express concerns about the cost of living, healthcare prices, and personal finances, a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll finds,” PBS News reported on Wednesday. “Fifty-seven percent of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy, once viewed as one of the president’s strengths. Thirty-six percent say the president is doing a good job, the lowest this poll has found across both of his terms in office.”
Overall, the poll gives Trump a 38% approval rating, and a 54% disapproval rating.
The New York Times noted that the president will deliver an Oval Office address Wednesday night, and has “repeatedly teased” sending $2,000 tariff rebate checks.
“But he has not devised a detailed plan for providing the rebates, an expensive policy that Republicans in Congress must approve and one that they have not yet considered.”
Trump last week told his Cabinet, “Next year is projected to be the largest tax refund season ever, and we’re going to be giving back refunds out of the tariffs, because we’ve taken in literally trillions of dollars.”
Last week, Yahoo Finance reported that the total tariff revenue collected for this calendar year about $236 billion.”
“And we’re going to be giving a nice dividend to the people, in addition to reducing debt,” Trump also claimed, despite the absence of a plan in place.
