The announcement hit like a thunderclap from the campaign trail, wrapped in the kind of simple clarity that makes people stop and listen: $2,000 for every working family, funded by revenue from aggressive new tariffs. On paper, it was tidy, almost elegant—America taxing foreign goods and sending the money straight back to its citizens. At least, that was the pitch.
But beneath the applause and viral soundbites, the reality was already fraying.