Trump says his tariff revenues will both pay down America’s $37 trillion debt and possibly fund a public “dividend,” but Treasury data shows they fall short of even covering monthly interest costs.

In exclusive interviews with Fortune, Wharton’s Professor Joao Gomes and AEI’s Desmond Lachman warned that while tariffs may slow debt growth, they won’t meaningfully reduce it.

Markets are largely skeptical of Trump’s math despite some unconventional revenue wins.

  • the_tab_key@lemmy.world
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    14 hours ago

    Public dividend

    I’ve got an idea! Let’s raise taxes on everyone and then give them checks for 1% of it and call it a dividend!

    Trump runs this country like I ran my cities in Sim City 2000 when I was 10.