President Trump’s tariff revenue fell in November, but the president’s frequent promises about how he will use the money are still growing rapidly.
Since the 2024 campaign, the president has floated at least nine different ideas on how to spend tariff money, according to a tally by Yahoo Finance.
It’s a list of promises that range from sending $2,000 tariff dividend checks to Americans to paying for the tax cuts Republicans enacted this summer.
Trump reminded a crowd at a rally in Pennsylvania this week of his views on tariffs, saying of the word, “I like that word better than any other word in the dictionary.” He said he had demoted it to other words like religion and family only at the behest of “fake news.”
However, the picture for tariff revenue has grown murkier in recent weeks after the president bowed to Americans’ affordability concerns and rolled back some tariffs on goods that had seen price increases, including coffee, oranges and cocoa.
That caused monthly tariff revenue to fall from $31.35 billion in October to $30.76 billion last month, the first decline since Trump began enforcing tariffs in his historic second term.
Of course, Trump’s pledge also comes with an impending Supreme Court ruling that could not only invalidate most of the new tariffs but could even force him to issue up to $100 billion in refunds.
Last week, the government announced a $12 billion relief fund for farmers. “This money would not have been possible without tariffs,” the president said.
Cato Institute economist Scott Lincicome was quick to point out four more things Trump promised the tariffs would pay for.
In addition to farm bailouts, dividend checks and tax cuts, Lincicome noted Trump’s pledge to pay down the national debt through tariffs and occasional hints that tariffs could lead to the elimination of income taxes.
One interviewee was quick to point to a sixth example: the Trump campaign’s promise to pay for enhanced child care through tariffs.
Last September, at an event at the Economic Club of New York, he was asked about his ideas for making child care more affordable.
He responded: “The numbers I’m talking about being generated by imposing taxes on foreign countries that they’re not accustomed to are much larger than any numbers we’re talking about, including child care.”
A review of Trump’s campaign promises and other proposals since taking office turned up many more examples, including at the same Economic Club of New York event.
