MAGA Supporters Turn on Trump Over ‘Insane’ New Plan

President Donald Trump is once again playing with the economic lives of Americans, floating a so-called “tariff rebate” plan that is already being torched by members of his own party — including some of his most loyal MAGA foot soldiers.

The proposal? Cut Americans a check — a $600 tax rebate — using revenue from Trump’s newly ramped-up tariffs, which have already sparked trade tensions with multiple U.S. allies. Trump floated the idea last month with his usual bravado, telling reporters, “We have so much money coming in, we’re thinking about a little rebate.”

But even Trump’s MAGA faithful are struggling to stomach this one.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), one of Trump’s most vocal enablers in the Senate, quickly jumped on the idea, drafting a proposal to issue a $600 rebate to every American taxpayer — echoing the COVID-era stimulus checks that both Trump and President Biden issued years earlier.

But this isn’t 2020, and the economic backdrop is vastly different. Inflation is still lingering, the federal debt just surpassed $37 trillion, and the global trade landscape is shakier than ever.

“This isn’t a lifeline,” one Democratic aide on the Senate Finance Committee told us. “It’s a political stunt designed to buy headlines, not help American families.”

Even Republican lawmakers, many of whom have bent over backwards to defend Trump’s more outlandish ideas, are recoiling.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH), who once floated Trump’s name for the Nobel Peace Prize, called the rebate idea “insane.”

“Oh God, no. Insane,” he said bluntly to Semafor. “Two reasons. No. 1, we have a $37 trillion debt… No. 2, it’s extraordinarily inflationary. It’s fiscal stimulus at the worst time.”

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), another Trump loyalist, echoed the concern. “I just don’t know that they’re necessary,” he told The Washington Post. “The folks back home don’t feel like they’re being hurt by tariffs. Just the opposite. Prices have stabilized.”

Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) didn’t mince words either: “I think it’s a bad idea.”

Economists and policy analysts have also balked at the plan. MSNBC contributor Ryan Teague Beckwith was blunt: “To be clear: This is not going to happen.”

Beckwith ran the numbers. If the rebates mirrored previous stimulus checks, the cost would be around $164 billion — nearly wiping out the entire revenue generated by Trump’s tariffs in the first half of 2025.

And that’s assuming those tariff revenues hold steady — something that’s far from certain as trade partners begin to retaliate.

“A one-time rebate may sound good in a press release,” said former Obama economic advisor Jason Furman. “But this would inject fiscal fuel into an already overheated economy, potentially triggering another round of price hikes.”

The White House’s sudden interest in big-payout populism has also revived memories of another failed Trump-era promise: the so-called “DOGE dividends.”

In 2023, Elon Musk and Trump jointly promoted a scheme to deliver $5,000 tax credits to Americans using supposed government savings from Musk’s cost-cutting plan dubbed “DOGE.” Musk claimed he could save the U.S. $2 trillion.

In reality, DOGE’s total “savings” barely scraped together $180 billion — according to figures released before Musk abruptly resigned from his advisory role. Trump and Musk later had a high-profile falling out, and the promised $5,000 checks vanished into thin air.

Now, critics say, we’re watching the same playbook — different gimmick.

Despite the mounting backlash, the Trump administration appears undeterred.

“As the president has said, tariffs are bringing in historic revenue for the federal government,” a White House spokesperson told The Daily Beast. “The administration is considering multiple options for this windfall revenue.”

But many economists argue that the so-called “windfall” is coming at a steep cost — paid not by China or foreign countries, but by American businesses and consumers, who ultimately shoulder the burden of higher import costs.

“This is smoke and mirrors,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “Trump is trying to bribe Americans with their own money — money that was taken from them through higher prices at the grocery store, not gifted by him.”

At a time when Americans are already struggling to keep up with inflated costs of living, Trump’s rebate plan offers the illusion of relief while masking deeper economic damage.

Even Republicans are waking up to the fact that this isn’t leadership — it’s economic cosplay.

And if history is any guide, this rebate, like the DOGE dividends, will go nowhere fast.