‘No free checks to anybody’: Kevin O’Leary torpedoes idea of sending tariff rebates to Americans

“Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary said on Monday that he despised the notion of sending tariff-funded rebate checks to Americans.

President Donald Trump floated the idea on July 25 and Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley introduced legislation for the checks on July 28. O’Leary said on “CNN News Central” that the U.S. government should “start paying down the debt” rather than send checks to Americans.

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“We’re spending a ton of money that we don’t need to, many people feel, because we’ve overstimulated right through the pandemic five years ago,” O’Leary said. “It’s time to sober up and start paying down the debt. So this idea of money for nothing and checks for free, start sending checks out to everybody — I hate that idea. Many people hate that idea.”

“I want to see the confidence of America maintained in terms of it being an investment location … I want the world to continue to send 52 cents of every dollar to America, because that’s the number one place to invest,” he added. “And it won’t be if all of a sudden we get into hyperinflation or the long bond goes crazy because they think we’re drunken sailors spending money … No free checks to anybody.”

The U.S. government in June ran a $27 billion budget surplus, driven partly by record tariff revenue, which exceeded $100 billion for the first time in a fiscal year, Reuters reported.

When a reporter asked Trump at the White House on July 25 if there was a chance for a rebate for Americans based on the revenue, the president said his administration was focused on paying off debt, but that a small rebate for some Americans was possible.

“We’re thinking about that, actually. We have so much money coming in,” Trump said. “We’re thinking about a little rebate, but the big thing we want to do is pay down debt. But we’re thinking about a rebate.”

“We’re thinking about a rebate because we have so much money coming in from tariffs that a little rebate for people of a certain income level might be very nice,” he added.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the GOP’s reconciliation bill would add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over ten years. However, the president’s Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) estimated that the bill could reduce the deficit by $4.5 trillion.

Moreover, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent projected during a July 8 cabinet meeting that tariff revenue could surge to $300 billion by the end of 2025, according to Reuters.

The U.S. national debt is currently over $37.2 trillion.

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