President Donald Trump has promised a potential $5,000 payment to every adult US citizen if Republicans win both chambers of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections.
Trump made the announcement during a Republican convention in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday as he sought to rally support for GOP candidates ahead of the November 3 elections.
According to Trump, the payment would be issued as a “dividend” if Republicans successfully retain control of the House and Senate.
“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.
Trump said the proposed dividend would come with a restriction requiring recipients to spend the money inside the United States. He did not provide a detailed timetable for distribution or explain the specific mechanism that would be used to deliver the funds.
The financial scale of the proposal is enormous. A $5,000 payment to hundreds of millions of eligible adults would push the total cost beyond $1 trillion. Reuters estimated that the plan could cost approximately $1.35 trillion, although the final figure would depend on the number of adults ultimately eligible for the payment.
The proposed programme would therefore rank among the largest direct-payment initiatives ever contemplated by the US government and could surpass the combined scale of several major pandemic-era relief payments.
Trump did not announce legislation establishing the dividend, nor did he provide details on its funding source. Reports following the speech noted that no further implementation details were immediately available.
The promise comes at a politically significant moment for Trump and the Republican Party. Republicans are heading into the midterm elections seeking to maintain their majorities in Congress, while Trump has made his own record a central part of the party’s campaign strategy.
The $5,000 proposal adds a major economic promise to that campaign, potentially putting more than $1 trillion into the hands of American adults if the plan is ultimately approved and implemented.
For now, however, the proposed dividend remains a pledge from Trump rather than an enacted government programme. Its funding, legal structure, eligibility rules and payment schedule have yet to be established.
