President Trump on Wednesday promised to pay a $5,000 dividend to every adult U.S. citizen if Republicans win the House and Senate in the November midterm elections.
“Here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them — because of our tremendous economic success — I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” he said at the GOP convention in Dallas.
The only caveat, he said, is that the money must be spent in the U.S., specifying that it cannot be spent in other nations such as Canada, Germany or China. He dubbed it the “Trump dividend.”
“If Republicans win, you win,” he said.
The offer almost immediately drew sharp criticism from the left, including allegations that he was offering a bribe.
Democrats are expected to pounce on Mr. Trump’s dividend offer, including calling it an empty promise since paying it to the roughly 270 million U.S. adults would cost near $1.35 trillion.
Still, Mr. Trump compared the dividend to when a successful company issues a cash distribution to its investors after a successful quarter.
“The reason Democrats can’t do that is because they don’t do tariffs; they don’t take in money,” he said. “All they know is poverty and how to ruin our country. But we are making a fortune.”
Mr. Trump did not say how the dividend will be distributed or offer any other details.
Last year, Mr. Trump issued what he called The Warrior Dividend, a $1,776 payment to roughly 1.45 million military members. The payments were made in honor of the nation’s founding in 1776 and processed using funds appropriated to the Pentagon.
Mr. Trump had also proposed issuing direct payments to U.S. taxpayers with funds generated through tariff revenue, but nothing had ever been paid out.
He also created Trump accounts in which the government paid $1,000 into an account for every child born between 2025 and 2028.
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