The Blubber

President Donald Trump is proposing a major shift in how the U.S. finances its government by suggesting that revenue from his tariff policies could potentially replace the federal income tax.

“There’s a real chance,” Trump said in an interview aired April 15 on Fox Noticias. “There is a chance that the money from tariffs could be so great that it would replace [the income tax]. You know, in the old days, about 1870 to 1913, tariffs were the only form of revenue. And that’s when our nation was relatively the richest. We were the richest.”

The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, gave Congress the authority to levy a federal income tax. On Capitol Hill, specifics have yet to be revealed, but Republican lawmakers are currently working on a significant tax and spending package viewed as the centerpiece of Trump’s second-term economic agenda.

Trump has enacted widespread tariffs on many countries and claimed during the interview that the U.S. is now collecting “two billion and three billion dollars a day” in tariff revenue.

At present, the administration has paused new reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, though it has significantly raised duties on Chinese goods — now reaching up to 245% when including those imposed during Trump’s first term and under the Biden administration.

Self-deportation plan

In the same Fox interview with Rachel Campos-Duffy, Trump also discussed a plan to encourage undocumented immigrants to voluntarily leave the country by offering them financial assistance and transportation.

“We’re going to have a self-deportation program,” Trump said. “We’re going to give them a stipend. We’re going to give them some money and a plane ticket, and then we’re going to work with them.”

Trump added that if the individuals are “good,” his administration would consider pathways to allow them to return legally.

“Because you have some great people that came in,” Trump said. “But we have very bad ones.”