Donald Trump has promised every adult American a $5,000 payment if Republicans sweep November’s midterm elections.
The former president, 79, unveiled the pledge Wednesday during a one-hour-and-47-minute address at the inaugural Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas. He framed the payment as an economic dividend tied to GOP control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“I can make this promise to you. And here is my promise. If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States 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 during the speech.
He attached strings to the offer. The funds, he added, would have to be spent within the United States. The initiative carries the branding “Trump Dividend,” coming on the heels of his recent order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America.
The price tag would land near £1.3 trillion if enacted. Vice President JD Vance, pressed by Fox News on how the administration would finance the program, pointed to tariff revenue as the funding mechanism.
“You will share in some of the benefit of this incredible wealth that we are creating,” Vance said.
The proposal drew immediate skepticism from fiscal analysts. Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, noted that the president lacks unilateral authority to distribute cash without congressional authorization.
“The idea that we’ve had fiscal success is backwards and bordering on laughable,” Goldwein said.
Euro Pacific chief economist Peter Schiff went further, labeling the scheme a “ridiculous promise” and accusing Trump of attempting to “buy the midterms” by bribing voters “in exchange for their votes.” Schiff warned on social media that the Federal Reserve would be forced to print money to cover the cost, predicting “massive inflation, well in excess of anything experienced under Biden.”
The United States currently runs an annual deficit of $2 trillion against debts totaling $40 trillion, a context that complicates any dividend framework. A dividend typically flows from corporate surplus rather than government shortfall.
Trump has floated similar payments previously. In 2025 he proposed a $2,000 dividend that he claimed required no congressional approval; it never materialized. Military members did receive a $1,776 payment in a program he dubbed the “warrior dividend.”
The Dallas convention speech also saw Trump mock ongoing rumors about his health as he laid out midterm priorities ahead of the November elections for both chambers of Congress.
Trump’s Wednesday appearance came at the Republican midterm convention, where he spoke for nearly two hours in Texas.
The White House had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.
Trump is scheduled to continue his midterm campaign push with upcoming Republican events across swing states.