President Donald Trump said on Sept. 13 that the government could easily carry out his pledge to give every American adult a $5,000 dividend check if Republicans win the midterm elections on Nov. 3.
When asked by reporters in Doonbeg, Ireland, whether Congress would need to approve the dividend payments, Trump said, “I don’t know.”
“But it’s easy,” he said. “If the Republicans win, as I say, it’s $5,000 to all adults [citizens] in the country and we can easily handle that because we’re taking in so much money. We’ve never done better.”
He continued: “The Democrats can’t make that pledge because it would all go to hell right away. If Democrats get in, you’ll go into a depression.”
The president first announced the payments during a Sept. 9 Republican event in Dallas, Texas, calling them the “Trump dividend.” He promised the payments if Americans return Republican majorities to both the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections, made possible by his tariff policies.
Speaking to reporters outside Air Force One on Sept. 13, Trump said the payments would “happen 100 percent” if the GOP retains control of Congress.
Republicans currently control both chambers of Congress. Trump said he is not implementing the plan now because he believes Democrats could use it in a way that would harm the U.S. economy.
“I don’t want to do it now because if the Democrats get it, our country will be in shambles and they won’t be able to do it,” Trump said of their economic policies. “If we get in, we’re taking in tremendous amounts of money.
“We’re taking in over $20 trillion in terms of investment. And with the Democrats, all of that money will be thrown out. If the Democrats get in, they won’t be able to pay it,” he said.
The Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimated there were 245 million adult U.S. citizens in the country as of 2024, meaning the payouts would cost about $1.3 trillion.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told NBC News on Sept. 10 that, if implemented, the $5,000 dividend checks for citizens would not be paid for with taxpayer dollars. He said the administration could “earn the money that Donald Trump wants to pay out, not from the deficit and not from taxpayers.”
Lutnick told the outlet that Republicans, should they win in Congress, are “going to deliver that plan and we’re going to pay that money to the Americans.”
Trump has previously floated the idea of sending a tariff-related dividend payment to the American people. Earlier this year, he proposed a $2,000 tariff-derived dividend and also said he didn’t think he needed approval from Congress.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has warned that providing such a dividend payment could increase the national debt and boost inflation.
“If you are getting surplus revenue, you should cut people’s tax and return it to the people,” DeSantis told reporters last week. “What I don’t think you want to do is borrow another $1.5 trillion, and then just try to flood that into the economy, because that will lead to more inflation.”
The Trump administration issued a similar payment for members of the U.S. Armed Forces last year, when they were issued pre-Christmas checks for $1,776. The funds were classified as one-time supplements to servicemembers’ monthly Basic Allowance for Housing stipend.
Jack Phillips and Melanie Sun contributed to this report.
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