US4 min(s) read
Donald Trump has provided an update on his promise to hand $5,000 to every adult American if Republicans retain control of Congress in November.
The president renewed the proposal during an Oval Office event on Monday, claiming that revenue generated by his administration's tariffs could provide the money required for the payments.
Trump has branded the proposal a potential "Trump Dividend", but significant questions remain over how it would be funded and implemented. Estimates suggest payments to around 240 million adult US citizens could cost roughly $1.2 trillion.
Speaking during an announcement concerning a new steel plant, Trump again linked the proposed payments to his administration's tariff policies. "Because of tariffs, we are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of profits," he claimed.
"It's one of the reasons I can offer, if Republicans win the House and the Senate, $5,000 to every adult. And we can do it and the Democrats can't, because the Democrats don't have any income, and they're gonna drive us in[to] a depression. They won't have any money."
Trump first made the $5,000 pledge at the Republican Party's midterm convention earlier this month, making the payment conditional on Republicans maintaining control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, with the US leader’s reputation nosediving since launching war on Iran.
"If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Trump pledged.
He has described the money as a dividend arising from the country's ‘recovering’ economy, which he claimed had sustained hits during Biden’s tenure as head of state in the US.
With tariff revenue repeatedly cited as part of the potential funding mechanism, there are still major unanswered questions surrounding the proposal, including exactly how the money would be distributed and whether Congress would have to approve the spending.
However, legal experts have said that Congress controls federal spending and that legislation would generally be required before the government could make payments on this scale, with the cost being substantial.
With approximately 240 million adult US citizens, a $5,000 payment for each person would amount to around $1.2 trillion before administrative costs; nevertheless, Trump’s approach has maintained that the money can be found, with recently imposed tariffs one such source of the handout.
Earlier this month, he alleged, "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."
The White House has described the proposal as a payment made possible by what it calls the strength of the US economy.
During Monday's briefing, Trump also addressed criticism over the cost of everyday essentials, arguing that Democrats were responsible for the affordability problems facing Americans.
"They like to say 'affordability,' but they are the ones that caused the affordability problem," Trump claimed. "They're the ones that caused all of these problems. They were unwilling to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon."
Democratic National Committee Deputy Communications Director Kendall Witmer criticized the administration's economic record in a statement, accusing Trump of making "empty promises".
"The only people reaping the benefits of Trump’s economy are himself, his family, and his ultra-rich elite donors," Witmer said.
"Meanwhile, working families get nothing except sky-high receipts at the grocery store and the pump, unaffordable healthcare premiums, and wages that aren’t keeping up with inflation."
Trump has continued to argue that Americans are financially better off under his administration.
"Gas prices were much higher under Biden than under ‘TRUMP,’" the president wrote on Truth Social last week, "So were almost all other prices."
He also told reporters that Americans were "twice as wealthy" as they were under Joe Biden, adding: "Your 401k is double, in a short period of time."
For Americans, the proposed $5,000 payments could help to persuade them to renew their support for Trump. However, the fact of the matter remains that this is not only conditional on Republicans retaining control of both chambers of Congress, but on Trump keeping his word, and the mechanism for funding and delivering the money being both viable and in line with constitutional rules.
