US President Donald Trump has promised a $5,000 payment to every American adult if Republicans maintain control of both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm elections, as the party seeks to improve its weakening electoral prospects.
“If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” Trump told the Republican Party’s midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday. “It will be called the Trump Dividend.”
Comparing the proposed payments to dividends distributed by companies to their shareholders, Trump credited “our tremendous strength and success economically.”
The plan would probably cost more than $1 trillion, require congressional approval and potentially add to the country’s annual budget deficit, which stands at nearly $1.8 trillion.
Vice President JD Vance appeared to narrow the scope of the proposal less than an hour later, suggesting that wealthy Americans might not receive the payment.
He also indicated that tariff revenue could be used to fund the scheme, although the total cost would be far greater than the amount collected through those measures.
The announcement comes as the US national debt has exceeded $40 trillion for the first time. The Supreme Court also struck down much of Trump’s tariff programme last year, further raising questions about how the proposed payments could be financed.
Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Washington-based Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the president could not distribute the money without congressional approval.
He also challenged Trump’s comparison with corporate dividends, noting that such payments are normally made from surplus funds.
“The idea that we’ve had fiscal success is backwards and bordering on laughable,” he said. “We don’t have surpluses to give away.”
Trump has previously floated similar proposals but had not explicitly connected them to Republican electoral success.
Earlier this year, he suggested issuing $2,000 payments and claimed congressional approval might not be required. Last year, members of the military received $1,776 payments described by Trump as a “warrior dividend.”
Republican Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio backed the latest proposal and promised to begin preparing legislation. “I will get a bill ready so that we can get the Trump Dividend passed immediately after the November 3rd election,” he wrote on X late Wednesday. “Because Republicans (and America) will win!”
If approved, the $5,000 payment would be larger than the total amount most Americans received through direct federal stimulus payments during Trump’s first presidential term.
Questions have also been raised about linking a government payment to an election result, although New Mexico attorney John Day said the proposal would remain lawful if eligibility did not depend on how—or whether—someone voted.
“This is a campaign promise,” Day said. “It’s not a payment to individuals to try to get them to vote in a particular way.”
The proposal comes as Republicans face a difficult campaign to preserve their narrow House majority. Public dissatisfaction with Trump and widespread opposition to the war in Iran have created additional pressure, while control of the Senate, once considered more secure for Republicans, is also increasingly competitive.
Trump acknowledged that a president’s party traditionally loses congressional seats during midterm elections but insisted Republicans could break the pattern. “We’re going to change that,” Trump said. “There’s no reason for it.”
