Trump pardons Rudy Giuliani, others over 2020 election claims
President Donald Trump pardoned former attorney Rudy Giuliani and dozens more in a sweeping clemency move tied to 2020 election claims.
- The Trump administration is exploring options for a proposed $2,000 stimulus check for Americans.
- President Donald Trump suggested the payments would be funded by tariffs and exclude high-income individuals.
- No formal proposal has been made, and Congress would need to approve any stimulus payment before they could be issued.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Nov. 12 that the Trump administration was “exploring all legal options” to issue $2,000 checks to Americans, although there have been no concrete details on how the payments would work.
“The president made it clear he wants to make it happen,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House. “So his team of economic advisers are looking into it.”
President Donald Trump sparked the latest round of stimulus check conversations on Nov. 9, when he posted on social media that a $2,000 dividend from tariffs would be sent to some Americans.
“A dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In order for a stimulus payment to become a reality, Congress would have to approve the proposal, as it did with the 2020 COVID-19 stimulus checks. There have been no new proposals or actions from Congress on this topic.
Here’s everything to know about the suggested $2,000 stimulus check.
Is Trump issuing $2,000 stimulus checks in 2025?
Trump’s post on Truth Social indicated that a $2,000 dividend would be sent out. However, there were very few details included in post and he has yet to say more about the dividend.
Tariff stimulus check eligibility
Trump’s Truth Social post indicated the $2,000 per person checks would be sent to Americans “not including high income people!”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Nov. 12 that Trump is considering the stimulus checks for families making $100,000 a year or less.
What is considered ‘high-income people’?
Clarification form Bessent indicated that “high-income people” were those making more than $100,000 a year.
When are we getting the $2,000 stimulus check?
There was no timeline for payment provided in Trump’s posts on social media.
Since Congress would have to approve the payments before they could be sent out, it could take awhile before the money is in your hands.
This isn’t the 1st stimulus check Trump suggested in 2025
This is not the first suggestion of using funds generated by tariffs to send a stimulus payment to Americans. There was previous discussion of doing this in August 2025.
After Trump originally suggested this idea during the summer, Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley proposed the American Worker Rebate Act of 2025, which would have provided a minimum of $600 per adult and dependent child, or $2,400 for a family of four, according to news officials in August. The bill was referred to a Senate committee, but there were no updates on it as of November.
According to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan nonprofit that studies fiscal policy, Trump’s proposal would cost about double the money that the U.S. is expected to make in new import duties.
Earlier in 2025, there was also talk of a DOGE dividend, which would be funded by money the department cut from other groups.
Though politicians and Trump himself talked about the idea, the stimulus checks were never formally approved by Congress. There has been no news about this proposal for months.
Reach the reporter at reia.li@gannett.com. Follow @reia_reports on Instagram.
