Trump Promises $5,000 Dividend Checks to US Adults if Republicans Win House & Senate

President Donald Trump has promised a $5,000 “dividend” to every adult US citizen if Republicans win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.

Speaking at the Republican Party’s first midterm election convention in Dallas on Wednesday, September 9, Trump said the proposed payment would be funded by the country’s economic strength and success.

‘If Republicans Win, You Get $5,000’

“If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them … 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.

He added that the money would have to be spent within the United States.

“The only caveat I have is that the dividend that we’re making must be spent in the United States of America,” Trump said, adding that he did not want recipients spending the money in countries such as Canada, China or Germany.

“If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump dividend,” he said.

Trump Dividend Details Remain Unclear

Trump did not provide details about who would qualify for the payment, how it would be distributed or when recipients could receive it.

There are an estimated 245 million adult American citizens worldwide. If each were eligible for the proposed $5,000 payment, the programme could carry a price tag of about $1.22 trillion—not $1.22 billion.

Trump’s reference to adult citizens “in the United States of America” could potentially exclude roughly 2 million US citizens living abroad, although the eligibility rules remain unclear.

It is also not known how the government would enforce Trump’s proposed requirement that the dividend be spent inside the US or what mechanisms would be used to track recipients’ spending.

No further details on the proposal were immediately available.