Trump Makes Bonkers New Claim on Tariff Revenue, Says the Media ‘Hates’ America for Not Reporting It

AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana

President Donald Trump posted a head-scratching claim to his Truth Social platform on Monday morning, attacking the U.S. media for not reporting that his tariffs “have taken in” some “600 Billion Dollars.” Revenue from Trump’s tariffs is, of course, a closely tracked economic data set, and no reporting shows the revenue so far being anywhere close to that amount.

“We have taken in, and will soon be receiving, more than 600 Billion Dollars in Tariffs, but the Fake News Media refuses to talk about it because they hate and disrespect our Country, and want to interfere with the upcoming Tariff decision, one of the most important ever, of the United States Supreme Court. Because of Tariffs, our Country is financially, AND FROM A NATIONAL SECURITY STANDPOINT, FAR STRONGER AND MORE RESPECTED THAN EVER BEFORE. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump posted.

The Treasury Department reported that it collected $195 billion in all tariff revenue in through September of 2025, which ended the fiscal year. Erica York, the vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, explained at the time that figure “includes preexisting tariffs, as well as the new tariffs that the president has imposed this year. If you break it down further using data from CBP (Customs and Border Protection), those new tariffs have generated about $117 billion of collections for the Treasury.”

The Tax Foundation additionally found that U.S. tariffs ended the calendar year with well over $200 billion in revenue, pushing close to $250, but nowhere near Trump’s $600 billion claim.

The Tax Policy Center (TPC) at the Brookings Institution estimated that Trump’s tariffs, if they remain the same, will bring in some “$2.3 trillion for fiscal years 2026 through 2035, with $247 billion raised in 2026. These policies will impose an average burden of about $2,100 per tax unit in calendar year 2026.” The TPC’s numbers align closely with the Tax Foundation and the U.S. treasury numbers, which mean almost two and a half years of tariff revenue would be needed to reach Trump’s $600 billion mark.

Trump’s $600 billion figure, however, does align with another data point he has brought up in recent weeks – the cost his $2,000 tariff dividend check. In early December, Trump floated giving Americans back $2,000 from the tariff revenue. CBS News reported at the time the cost of such a move would clearly cost more than the tariffs have brought in: “Sending a one-time $2,000 payment to U.S. households would cost between $300 billion and $600 billion — far more than the U.S. is currently collecting in tariffs.”

Trump has long made wild and baseless claims about how much new revenue his administration has been bringing in, including regularly claiming tariff revenue has peaked at over $18 trillion dollars. Trump appears to be adding in other types of foreign investment into that figure, which has climbed over the year from 10 trillion to 17 trillion to now 18 trillion. The claim of trillions in foreign investment, even including tariff revenue, is wildly inaccurate on its face – especially given the fact that the entire global GDP for 2024 was around $110 trillion dollars (with $29 trillion coming from the US). Trump’s claim would mean that the rest of the world has handed over over 21% of its entire economic value to the U.S. since he has taken office.