Trump once vowed $2,000 checks. Now he says, 'When did I say that?'

US President Donald Trump questioned his earlier promise of $2,000 checks funded by tariffs, saying payments may come later this year, not before the 2026 midterms as previously suggested

US President Donald Trump has offered mixed signals on his earlier promise to send $2,000 relief checks to Americans, funded through tariff revenues. While he had earlier suggested the payments would come before the 2026 midterm elections, he now says the timeline may be later, and questioned whether he made the promise at all.

 

During a recent interview with The New York Times in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about the proposed payments. “You’ve promised $2,000 checks to Americans based off of your tariff revenues. When can they expect those?” a New York Time reporter asked.

 

Trump interrupted, replying, “I did? When did I say that?”

 

When the question was repeated, Trump acknowledged the idea but shifted the timeline. “Well, I am going to,” Trump said. “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."

 

This marks a change from his earlier messaging, which had linked the payments to the period before the 2026 midterm polls.   

 

What Trump had promised earlier

 

In November last year, Trump had backed higher tariffs and said the revenue raised would be shared directly with Americans. He had claimed the payments would not apply to high-income earners.

 

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote, “People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS!”

 

He also said his administration had made the US “the richest, most respected country in the world, with almost no inflation, and a record stock market price. 401k’s are highest ever (sic)".

 

Trump further claimed that the US was “taking in trillions of dollars” through tariffs, which he said would help reduce the country’s “enormous $37 trillion debt".

 

He added that factories and manufacturing plants were “going up all over the place", and promised that Americans would soon receive a “dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high-income people!)".