WASHINGTON—Heralding the success of a bold economic strategy designed to make foreign nations pay, the Trump administration celebrated Thursday as billions of dollars in tariffs began flowing into the U.S. Treasury, paid for heroically by patriotic Americans.
“IT’S MIDNIGHT!!! BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN TARIFFS ARE NOW FLOWING INTO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!” President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social, celebrating the successful launch of a plan that would ultimately see American businesses take on the financial burden previously assigned to countries like Brazil. “Tariffs are flowing into the USA at levels not thought even possible.”
Clarifying the innovative mechanism behind the revenue stream, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on MSNBC to explain how, exactly, the billions would make their way into government coffers. When pressed by host Eugene Robinson on who would physically write the check to the Treasury for a tariff on a Brazilian product, Bessent laid out the ingenious domestic-funding phase of the plan.
“Well, the check is written to the person who receives it at the dock, in the U.S.,” Bessent stated after first floating the idea that importers could simply buy something else.
Seeking to ensure he understood the maneuver, Robinson pressed, “The check is written by the person, the receiver. So the tariff is paid in this country by the importer. Is that right?”
Bessent confirmed the strategy with a simple, “Yep,” adding that “the importer can pass it on or not,” providing American businesses with the noble choice of whether to absorb the cost themselves or invite consumers to participate in the patriotic revenue-generation effort.
The strategy, which boldly bypasses the traditional and often cumbersome step of having other countries actually pay the tariffs levied against them, is seen by insiders as a masterstroke of efficiency. It is part of a broader administration effort to streamline economic reality, which included the recent firing of Commissioner of Labor Statistics Erika McEntarfer following the release of a weak jobs report.
Despite the plan’s apparent success, some traditionalist allies remain skeptical. “Sometimes Trump can’t stand prosperity,” longtime economic confidant Stephen Moore told Rolling Stone, advising the president to “stop with the tariffs.”
The president reportedly remains fond of Moore, despite his failure to grasp the new paradigm, often remarking upon seeing him, “There’s Steve Moore! He doesn’t like tariffs!”
Analysts note that with both inconvenient economic data and the financial burden of tariffs now handled domestically, the administration is well-positioned to declare its international trade war a resounding success.
