Trump vows $2,000 'dividend' for Americans, blasts Supreme Court over 'ridiculous' tariff case

President Donald Trump pledged a cash payout to boost support for tariffs as Justices questioned his authority to impose sweeping charges
In social media posts on Sunday, November 9, President Donald Trump supported his decision to impose tariffs and also promised to issue a $2,000 dividend to most Americans (Getty Images)
In social media posts on Sunday, November 9, President Donald Trump supported his decision to impose tariffs and also promised to issue a $2,000 dividend to most Americans (Getty Images)


WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Sunday, November 9, promised to issue a $2,000 “dividend” to most Americans in a bid to rally public support for his controversial tariff policy, even as the Supreme Court weighs the legality of his sweeping trade powers.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said that the payments would exclude high earners and boasted that tariffs had made the US “the richest, most respected country in the World.”

“A dividend of at least $2,000 a person (not including high-income people!) will be paid to everyone,” Trump wrote. “People that are against tariffs are FOOLS!”

U.S. President Donald Trump answers questions during a press conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House August 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump announced he will use his authority to place the DC Metropolitan Police Department under federal control to assist in crime prevention in the nation’s capital, and that the National Guard will be deployed to DC. Also pictured are Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (L) and Attorney General Pam Bondi (R). (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump answers questions during a press conference in the James S Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, August 11, 2025, in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Trump lashes out at Supreme Court over tariff case 

Trump responded to the hearing with a fiery online post attacking the court’s reasoning.

“So, let’s get this straight??? The President of the United States is allowed (and fully approved by Congress!) to stop ALL TRADE with a Foreign Country (Which is far more onerous than a Tariff!), and LICENSE a Foreign Country, but is not allowed to put a simple Tariff on a Foreign Country, even for purposes of NATIONAL SECURITY,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.



He continued, “That is NOT what our great Founders had in mind! The whole thing is ridiculous! Other Countries can Tariff us, but we can’t Tariff them? It is their DREAM! Businesses are pouring into the USA ONLY BECAUSE OF TARIFFS. HAS THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT NOT BEEN TOLD THIS? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?” 

The president also cited in another post record market highs, surging 401(k)s, and a drop in inflation, saying the country was generating “trillions of dollars” through tariffs that would help pay down the national debt.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 10: Republican presidential nominee, former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks at the Detroit Economic Club on October 10, 2024 in Detroit, Michigan. Michigan is considered a key battleground state in the upcoming presidential election, holding 15 electoral votes. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Donald Trump speaks at the Detroit Economic Club on October 10, 2024, in Detroit, Michigan (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

The outburst came as the administration’s legal team, led by Solicitor General Dean John Sauer, argued in the Supreme Court this week that the tariffs were regulatory measures, not taxes, and therefore fell within the president’s authority to regulate foreign commerce.

But critics say the move represents a vast overreach. Neal Katyal, representing private companies opposing the tariffs, told the court, “Tariffs are taxes. They take dollars from Americans’ pockets and deposit them in the US Treasury. Our founders gave that taxing power to Congress alone.”

The court, dominated by a conservative supermajority appointed largely by Trump himself, is expected to issue a ruling by July 2026.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White House on July 15, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is traveling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to speak at an artificial intelligence and energy summit. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White House on July 15, 2025, in Washington, DC (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump’s outburst after Supreme Court skepticism

Trump’s announcement came days after the Supreme Court heard arguments challenging his authority to impose global tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

The case, which could reshape the limits of presidential power on trade, has drawn rare bipartisan scrutiny.

Even the court’s conservative justices questioned the administration’s position. “The vehicle is the imposition of taxes on Americans, and that has always been a core power of Congress,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on September 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump will travel to Arizona to pay tribute to conservative activist Charlie Kirk at a memorial and return to the White House this evening. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump talks to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on September 21, 2025, in Washington, DC (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Justice Sonia Sotomayor was blunter: “You want to say tariffs are not taxes, but that’s exactly what they are.”

Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson suggested that Congress had clearly intended IEEPA to limit, not expand, presidential authority.

“It’s pretty clear that Congress was trying to constrain the emergency powers of the president,” she said.

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