Trump has suggested his (now dwindling) tariff revenues could pay for at least 9 different things

Revenue from President Trump’s tariffs fell in November, but the president’s frequent promises about what he would do with the money continued apace.

By Yahoo Finance’s count, the president has floated at least nine different ideas for how the tariff money could be used, dating back to the 2024 campaign.

This ranges from sending $2,000 tariff dividend checks to Americans, pay tax deductions It’s what Republicans started this summer.

Trump reminded the crowd at a rally in Pennsylvania this week. Here’s how he feels about tariffs: “I love it more than any other word in the dictionary.” At the behest of “fake news,” he said, he relegated it only behind other words like religion and family.

But the tariff revenue picture has become quite blurry in recent weeks after the President bowed to Americans’ affordability concerns. removed some tariffs Price increases are seen in products such as coffee, oranges and cocoa.

This led to monthly tariff revenues falling from $31.35 billion received in October to $30.76 billion last month; This was the first decline since Trump began implementing his historic second-term mandate.

And Trump’s promises, of course, come with a Supreme Court decision that could not only invalidate the lion’s share of the new tariffs but also potentially force him to refund up to $100 billion.

Last week, the administration announced a $12 billion bailout fund for farmers. The president said this money “would not be possible without tariffs.”

Scott Lincicome, an economist at the Cato Institute, quickly He noted four additional things Which Trump’s tariffs promised he would cover.

In addition to farm bailouts, dividend controls and tax cuts, Lincicome noted Trump’s promises to pay off the national debt with tariffs and his occasional suggestions that tariffs could lead to the elimination of income taxes.

a quick responder pointed out a sixth example: The Trump campaign’s promise to pay for improved child care through tariffs.

he was asked during an event last September. At the Economic Club of New York About her ideas for making child care more affordable.

“The numbers I’m talking about, taxing foreign nations at levels they’re not accustomed to, including child care, are much larger than the numbers we’re talking about.”

A review of Trump’s campaign promises and other proposals since he took office reveals many more examples, including the same Economic Club of New York event.

“With all this money that will be taken through tariffs and other smart things… we will have the largest sovereign wealth fund,” he said, suggesting another use of the money.

More recently Trump the idea of ​​a “victory fund” has reportedly been floated For Ukraine, financed by new tariffs imposed on China on oil purchases from Russia.

His management too tariff money used Keeping the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) afloat with a $300 million grant during the government shutdown.

The November revenues brought the total tariff revenue collected this calendar year to approximately $236.16 billion with one month remaining.

But nearly all of Trump’s ideas have a bigger price tag, meaning he can’t pay for nearly any of them with tariff revenue alone.

For example, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget I recently guessed that One round of tariff dividend checks could cost up to $600 billion and take about two years to pay back using tariff revenues alone.

“Under almost every design option, sending $2,000 payments to Americans would increase the federal budget deficit rather than reduce it.” He added the Tax Foundation to his analysis. “A better way to get rid of the burden of tariffs would be to eliminate them.”

Earlier this year, the president also suggested that tariffs mean now he could balance the budget.

But that seems unlikely, and individual income taxes probably aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The total of those taxes so far this calendar year — compared to $236 billion in tariff carryovers — is more than 10 times that, according to the report. to the Treasury DepartmentOver $2.5 trillion.

Ben Werschkul is Yahoo Finance’s Washington correspondent.

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