Free Trade

Eric Boehm | 12.15.2025 3:00 PM

In recent weeks, President Donald Trump has inflated his previous claims about how lucrative tariffs have been for the United States.

Trump's new figure: An astonishing $18 trillion.

Trump first used the "$18 trillion" figure during a cabinet meeting on December 2, then repeated it during comments to reporters on December 3 and in an interview with Politico on December 8. He also brought it up, unprompted and somewhat bizarrely, during the announcement on December 4 of a new peace treaty that aims to end hostilities between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

On Sunday, Trump revisited the $18 trillion claim while speaking to reporters at the White House. "Because of the tariffs, we've taken in more than 18—think of this—more than $18 trillion. There's never been anything like it," Trump said. Moments later, he repeated the claim, stating that "we took in more than $18 trillion in 10 months."

That figure is utterly fantastical—and........

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