‘Another way of tricking people’: Trump’s External Revenue Service is fooling MAGAs, but not the internet

Donald Trump and his ilk aren’t done with making up government agencies. First it was DOGE, now it’s the “External Revenue Service.”

In a post on Truth Social, Trump raged against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for taxing Americans, and announced his decision to create the “EXTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE” in order to collect “Tariffs, Duties, and all Revenue that come from Foreign sources.” According to Trump, the organization will ensure that other nations “start paying, FINALLY, their fair share” when trading with the United States.

Except it won’t… because it’s a scam.

“This is basically a language scam” writes political analyst Arieh Kovler on X. According to Kovler, Trump is attempting to trick Americans into believing that the United States will be paid by foreign countries to cover the cost of goods it imports. Tariffs don’t work like that. As Kovler reminds, the tariff is paid “by the importer” (the U.S.) which really means that the consumer (U.S. citizens) will be covering the extra cost.

While Trump’s voters may not understand the distinction, the rest of the internet sure does.

“Tariffs are just a tax on American companies and consumers” writes another user, “it’s economics 101.” It’s true. According to economists and corporate executives alike, tariffs mean higher prices for consumers. If a company pays extra for a good, they will make up the extra cost by selling that good for a higher price. It’s no secret, they’ve even admitted it. According to Walmart CFO John David Rainey, Trump’s tariff plan will likely cause the retailer’s prices to rise. Trump may have claimed that he’ll lower the cost of groceries, but his recent 180 on the matter shows that he knows his economic plans will have the opposite effect. His promise of an “External Revenue Service” is nothing more than a smokescreen to fool MAGA into thinking they’re protected from the harmful economic policies they unknowingly voted for.

What Trump neglects to mention here is that there’s already an agency that does this. It’s called the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency—they collect the tariffs. Trump would be creating a woefully redundant agency, one that DOGE would cut if Elon Musk does the job Trump wants him to do.

How does creating the “ERS” align with the “party of small government”? The internet is stumped.

Other users believe that Trump’s new department is nothing but the president-elect’s latest grift.

Like many of Trump’s policy decisions, this one just doesn’t make any sense. As this user points out, tariffs are paid by the importer – America. The External Revenue Service wouldn’t be collecting from “external” sources whatsoever, but from Americans.

If Trump’s economic policy plans come to fruition, tariffs aren’t the only price that the average American will be forced to pay. According to a study by the Institute of Taxation and Economic Policy, Trump’s tax plan will create tax hikes for everyone but the nation’s richest 5%. Devastating human cost aside, Trump’s “mass deportation” plan will cause inflation to skyrocket and hamstring multiple industries that depend on migrant labor to function. Trump and Elon Musk’s plan to slash $2 trillion (now $1 trillion) from the federal budget will bring about cuts to healthcare and social security of millions of Americans. While Trump promised his voters a new era of American supremacy, his economic polices will leave them more poor and desperate than ever. Trump’s newest External Revenue Service is just another scam to keep U.S. citizens betting against themselves.