National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that the Trump administration expects the US Supreme Court to rule in its favor in a case that challenges the legality of President Trump’s tariffs.
The court’s decision could not only invalidate most of the new tariffs, but possibly force the government to issue refunds of up to $100 billion, which Hassett told Face the Nation would create major administrative problems.
🚨 UPDATE: Trump just dropped a major surprise.
He says $2,000 “tariff dividend” checks are coming for low- and middle-income Americans, paid for with TRILLIONS brought in from tariffs.
And the rest of that money?
Straight toward slashing America’s debt.
Tariffs funding… pic.twitter.com/n91sdePQRM
— Charlie’s Voice Rising (@CharlieK_news) December 19, 2025
Hassett also said he thinks the $2,000 tariff rebate checks President Trump has floated seem much more likely to happen. “In the summer, I wasn’t so sure that there was space for a check like that, but now I’m pretty sure that there is,” he said, adding he expects the president to bring a formal proposal to Congress in the new year.
Meanwhile, Trump announced a $1,776 “warrior dividend” payment to nearly 1.5 million US service members in an address to the nation on Wednesday evening.
“In honor of our nation’s founding in 1776, we are sending every soldier $1,776,” Trump said, adding: “We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs, and the bill helped us along. Nobody deserves it more than our military.”
Trump did not say how the program would be enacted or funded. But even before the “warrior dividend,” Trump had floated at least nine different plans for how revenue from his tariffs could be spent, according to an analysis from Yahoo Finance’s Ben Werschkul.
In addition to the $2,000 tariff dividend checks, the promises included paying for the tax cuts that Republicans instituted over the summer.
But after lifting some tariffs on items like coffee, oranges, and cocoa, monthly tariff revenues dropped, from $31.35 billion received in October to $30.76 billion last month. That marks the first decrease since Trump began implementing the duties.
What else to know about Trump’s tariffs:
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The office of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday that Canada and the US will launch formal discussions to review their free trade agreement in mid-January. But discussions on key sectors was unlikely, with Carney saying the issue would be covered in a planned review of the United States-Canada-Mexico (USMCA) trade pact next year.
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Trump gave the green light for Nvidia (NVDA) to sell some of its more powerful H200 chips to China. The US president said that China’s Xi Jinping had responded “positively” to the move.
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Several US companies, such as Costco (COST), have filed lawsuits and claims to the US government for tariff refunds in the belief Trump’s tariffs will be struck down by the US Supreme Court. If the courts rule against Trump’s tariffs, the president may be forced to repay billions of dollars in collected revenue from imports.
Hassett ‘pretty sure’ $2k tariff rebate checks will be possible
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said Sunday that the Trump administration expects the US Supreme Court to rule in its favor in a case that challenges the legality of President Trump’s tariffs, Bloomberg reports. If the court finds the tariffs are illegal, it could trigger refunds that would create an “administrative problem,” Hassett added during an interview on Face the Nation.
The Supreme Court is weighing a legal challenge to tariffs Trump imposed on dozens of nations under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Administration officials have drawn up options for reimposing import taxes in case of an adverse ruling, while publicly maintaining that a court defeat is unlikely.
Hassett, a top contender to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair, said the challenging logistics of refunding tariffs paid on goods would deter the high court from ordering such a redistribution. Importers of record would need to receive the refunds and then distribute them to affected customers, he suggested.
Hassett said an improving economy has buoyed the chances of a plan to deliver one-time $2,000 rebate checks to many Americans. Trump has repeatedly floated the idea — with the checks funded by tariff revenue — as a salve for cost-of-living worries, though Republicans in Congress haven’t embraced the concept.
“In the summer, I wasn’t so sure that there was space for a check like that, but now I’m pretty sure that there is,” Hassett said, citing economic growth and a reduction in the government deficit.
“And so I would expect that in new year, the president will bring forth a proposal to Congress to make that happen,” he said.
