Donald Trump appeared momentarily unsure about previously saying he wanted to send Americans $2,000 checks funded by tariff revenue.
During a sit-down interview with The New York Times, White House correspondents Katie Rogers and Tyler Pager asked Trump about the proposed payments. When pressed on the topic, he responded with surprise and questioned whether he had made the promise at all — a moment that quickly drew attention and criticism online, particularly from people already debating his age and sharpness.
The earlier “$2,000” tariff-check idea
Trump first publicly floated the idea of sending Americans $2,000 tariff-revenue checks on Truth Social in November 2025.
“People that are against Tariffs are FOOLS! We are now the Richest, Most Respected Country In the World, With Almost No Inflation, and A Record Stock Market Price. 401k’s are Highest EVER,” the president wrote. “We are taking in Trillions of Dollars and will soon begin paying down our ENORMOUS DEBT, $37 Trillion. Record Investment in the USA, plants and factories going up all over the place. A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”
“I did do that? When did I do that?”
In the interview, Rogers brought up those remarks directly.
“You’ve promised $2,000 checks to Americans based off of your tariff revenues. When can they expect those?” she asked.
“I did do that? When did I do that?” Trump replied.
As Rogers began to follow up, Trump cut in and shifted to a different payment he said he approved: “Yeah, I’m thinking. Well, I did $1,776 for the military.”
Trump appeared to be referencing $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” checks that he and the Department of Defense said would go to more than a million U.S. service members. While he suggested the money was tied to tariff revenue, the funding was later described as coming from a provision in the “Big Beautiful Bill” that allocated money to the Pentagon to supplement the Basic Allowance for Housing.
He says the $2,000 checks could come later this year
Pager then returned to the original question, asking when Americans would receive the $2,000 checks.
“Well, I am going to,” Trump said, adding that tariff revenue was large enough to make it possible. “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.”
When asked whether he would need to go through Congress, Trump suggested he wouldn’t.
“No, I don’t believe we do. We have it coming in from other sources,” he said.
Online reactions and renewed scrutiny
The exchange triggered a wave of reactions on X, with users criticizing Trump’s inability to immediately recall the earlier promise and using the moment to argue about his fitness for office.
“It was only 2 months ago that he made that promise,” one user wrote. Others suggested he makes frequent claims and then contradicts himself later, while some commenters went further and speculated about his cognitive health.
Another moment that drew attention
The interview transcript circulated after another incident that drew online commentary: during a White House meeting with U.S. oil company executives about Venezuela, Trump reportedly paused the discussion, stood up, and moved toward a window to look at construction underway — a $400 million ballroom project — before returning to the meeting.
That clip, too, prompted sharp reactions on social media, with some users describing it as distracting or concerning.
