Tariff revenues don’t even cover the interest on the debt

«“The purpose of what I’m doing is primarily to pay down debt, which will happen in very large quantity,” Trump told the media earlier this month. “But I think there’s also a possibility that we’re taking in so much money that we may very well make a dividend to the people of America.”

The plan sounds welcome, in theory. But there’s just one problem. At present, tariff revenues don’t even cover the interest on the debt - let alone reduce its overall size.

According to Treasury data seen by Fortune, the accrued interest expense on Treasury notes in July alone was $38.1 billion. Add to that $13.9 billion in interest on Treasury bonds, $2.85 billion on Treasury floating rate notes (FRN), and a total of $6.1 billion across Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS) assets. The bill is eye-watering: The total comes to $60.95 billion for the month.

By contrast, Treasury statements show that tariffs only brought in $29.6 billion to offset it.»

(Fortune)