US President Donald Trump has promised to give every adult American a $5,000 payment if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in the November midterm elections.
Trump made the pledge on Wednesday while addressing the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, as he sought to rally support for GOP candidates ahead of the November 3 elections.
Under the proposal, the payment would be presented as a “Trump dividend” and would be conditional on Republicans holding on to both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them … because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Trump said.
He added that the money would have to be spent within the United States.
“If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” Trump said, describing the proposed payment as similar to a cash distribution made by a successful company to its shareholders.
The president, however, did not provide details on how the programme would be funded or how the payments would be administered.
The proposal could require more than $1 trillion if extended to all eligible adult citizens, according to estimates based on US population data. Trump also did not explain what legislative steps would be required to turn the pledge into an actual government programme.
Vice President JD Vance later suggested that wealthier Americans could be excluded from the scheme and indicated that tariff revenue could provide part of the funding. However, the scale of existing tariff revenue would not be sufficient on its own to cover the potential cost of the payments.
Trump’s announcement comes as Republicans campaign to maintain their majorities in Congress, with the president urging voters to treat the midterm election as a referendum on his administration.
The proposed dividend is therefore not an existing entitlement or an approved $5,000 payment. It remains a political pledge that would face questions over its financing, implementation and the need for congressional approval.
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