President Trump has promised every adult American a $5,000 "dividend" if Republicans keep control of Congress in November. The pledge would cost roughly $1.3 trillion, and follows two earlier Trump cash-payment promises with a mixed record of delivery.
Speaking at the Republican Party's midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday, Trump unveiled what he called the "Trump dividend": "If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000." He said the payment must be spent inside the United States and compared it to a company issuing a cash distribution to shareholders. Trump did not explain how the payments would be funded.
With around 260 million adult Americans counted in the 2020 Census, honoring the pledge for every adult would cost roughly $1.3 trillion. Kent Smetters, a professor at the Wharton School and faculty director of the Penn Wharton Budget Model, put the cost at about $1.35 trillion if every adult received the payment.
Vice President JD Vance later said the payments would not go to wealthy Americans. If the checks excluded them, the cost would fall to about $1.15 trillion, assuming a household income cap of $400,000, according to Smetters.
The strategy is not new for the Trump administration. During the Covid era, $1,200 stimulus checks went out to certain individuals. Last year, however, a promised $2,000 "tariff dividend" for low- and middle-income Americans never materialized, as the proposal failed to gain traction in Congress, with several Republicans arguing the money should instead reduce the national debt.
Trump also told reporters before the Dallas speech that oil prices would come tumbling downward after the election, and that the war with Iran, now in its seventh month, would end immediately after the election.
Sources: Business Insider, CNBC
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