How to use $1,776 more than once

Trump said..

“Because of tariffs,” the US president said, along with his massive tax-and-spending bill, “we are sending every soldier $1,776 – and the checks are already on the way. Nobody deserves it more than our military.”

“We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs, and the bill helped us along,” he added.”

A liar or a fool, take your choice.

What the payments actually are

It’s essentially a one-time bonus drawn from existing military housing funds Congress already appropriated.

  • Instead of coming from new money or tariff revenues (as Trump implied), the payments are being funded by Congressionally-approved military housing subsidy funds — specifically money allocated to supplement the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) in legislation already passed this year. Defense One+1
  • Defense and budget analysts describe this as a rebranding or repackaging of funds that were meant to help service members with housing costs — now being distributed in lump-sum form. The Fiscal Times

📌 Key points about the funding:

  • The roughly $2.6 billion for these payments came from funds Congress approved in spending bills, not a fresh “bonus fund” created by the White House. AP News
  • Trump’s claim that tariff revenues financed the payments is widely disputed by independent reporting and officials; tariff income doesn’t nearly cover these payouts.

But wait, wasn’t tariff income supposed to be used to reduce federal debt and deficits?

3 comments

  1. Al Lindquist:

    “massive tax and spending bill” as they say in Vermont “it doesn’t amount to pee in a snowbank” compared to what the corpse gave us–selective memory by the author but who can be surprised by that.

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  2. In addition, any military member who is using base housing will not receive the bonus because they do not get Basic Allowance for Housing. I guess if you live on the installation you are not a hero.

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