If oil imports are taxed, it could raise costs for businesses and consumers, potentially contradicting Trump’s pledge to reduce living expenses.

First time around, with the trade war with China, he had the federal government cut checks to affected farmers. I don’t know the form that took, but during COVID-19, he had stimulus checks sent out – with his name on them – to the broader public.

So, that’s presumably to make sure that they associate him with the check. I understand that sending out gifts to the public with your name attached isn’t uncommon around election in some countries with kinda sketchy political systems.

One imagines that he might do a repeat. Most people don’t seem to have a great handle on what drives inflation, from polls I’ve seen. If you figure that you get political points for sending out checks but don’t lose as many political points for raising prices because people don’t associate you strongly with those costs, that might be an advantageous political move; add tariff, which generates revenue to federal government, then send money to some approximation of impacted people with name attached. It’s economically-inefficient, but…