According to the Wall Street Journal, here, “The U.S. has collected tens of billions of dollars in tariffs.”

The Journal also quotes Pres. Trump, on Truth Social, saying,

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.”

“A dividend of at least $2000 per person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone.”

The current rate of inflation, as of September, 2025, is 3.00%, according to “USA Facts,” here, and based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, BLS, here, which also states that inflation was up 0.3% in September. I’m not an economist, but 3% inflation is not “almost no inflation.”

Now, let’s do the math.

There are about 340 million Americans. Excluding the top 10% high income people, 34 million people, leaves 306 million people. Let’s say, to keep the math obvious, that the tariffs generated $30.6 Billion. (That’s 3.6 tens of Billions.) That’s enough to give 15.3 million people that $2,000 “dividend.” Divided equally among 306 million people that’s $100 per person.

Here in New Jersey, $100 buys a few days worth of groceries, and about one month’s worth of gasoline, if you drive 850 to 1,000 miles in a car that gets 25 to 30 mpg.

In NYC, San Francisco, DC, Boston, $100 buys dinner for two at a modest restaurant.

To generate enough revenue for a $2,000 dividend for 306 million people, the tariffs would have to generate $612 Billion, plus enough to cover overhead, logistics, distribution.

As for “almost no inflation,” according to Consumer Prices, here

• Coffee: up 22% from $11.86 to $14.50 for a 12 oz container,
• Organic Eggs: up 20% from $5.38 to 6.45 per dozen,  
• Bacon: up 8.6% from $8.12 to $8.82, per pound.

This is for the period from August 2024 to August 2025. Note that ConsumerPrices.com is not a government agency.

Forbes, here, notes that the prices of some foods, like cereal, frozen vegetables, and ice cream have dropped, other foods like coffee, bacon, have risen, with the price of beef up 14%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is a government agency, says, here,

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in September, after rising 0.4 percent in August, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today [October 24, 2025]. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.0 percent before seasonal adjustment. Note that September CPI data collection was completed before the lapse in appropriations.

The index for gasoline rose 4.1 percent in September and was the largest factor in the all items monthly increase, as the index for energy rose 1.5 percent over the month. The food index increased 0.2 percent over the month as the food at home index rose 0.3 percent and the food away from home index increased 0.1 percent.

“The index for all items less food and energy rose 0.2 percent in September”

But the question is what will be the rate of inflation over the next 11 months until the mid-term elections ? And the next 35 months, until the Presidential Election of 2028?