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Reward or bribe: Trump’s stimulus cheques just another thought bubble

Elizabeth Knight Business columnist October 7, 2025 — 3.33pm

Another day, another counter-intuitive thought bubble from US President Donald Trump. This time he has revived the notion of giving every American a $US1000 ($1510) or $US2000 stimulus cheque – a gift, or more likely an early pre-midterm election bribe.

Let’s think of it as a cash Trump bump – a reward thanks to what he considers to be the windfall from his genius tariffs strategy .

Regardless of how it is branded, it constitutes a new definition of circular thinking. Trump imposes tariffs on imports that ultimately raise prices for US consumers, and now he is proposing to compensate them by handing over

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