USA · updated 1h ago · 2 min read
Trump Promises $5,000 Dividend Checks If Republicans Win Both Congress Chambers
Trump promised $5,000 payments to every adult American if Republicans control both congressional chambers. The plan would cost over $1 trillion and likely requires congressional approval; funding unclear.
How likely the pledge is to break election bribery law.
3 of 4 outlets skipped it: BBC mentions Trump’s war-related rationale context for economy.
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Los Angeles Times
“Legal experts, meanwhile, say the pledge — however unusual — is unlikely to run afoul of federal bribery and vote-buying statutes.”Read the original ↗
PBS
“As for whether promising a financial incentive during an election is legal, Rick Hasen, an election law”Read the original ↗
One stresses likely legality while another flags unresolved election-law concerns.
Trump’s $5,000 dividend pledge
President Donald Trump promised that if Republicans win both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm elections, he would issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.
“"If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,"”
Trump made the offer at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, saying, "If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000," and calling it the "Trump dividend."
PBS reported that the U.S. PCensus Bureau estimates there are about 245 million U.S. citizen adults, and that giving each of them a $5,000 check would cost about $1.2 trillion.
The BBC said the plan would cost more than a trillion dollars and that Trump gave no details on how it would work or be funded, while Vice-President JD Vance linked it to revenue raised from U.S. tariffs on imported goods.
Skepticism, legality, and funding
Reuters reported that the dividend plan drew a cool reception from some Republicans, with U.S. Representative David Schweikert saying, "It would continue to raise interest rates," and warning it would do "more damage to working people."
Reuters also said U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, an Ohio Republican, wrote on social media that he was preparing legislation to formalize the "Trump dividend" after the November 3 election.
The BBC said Democrats labelled the proposal an "empty promise" and that others questioned whether it was legal or feasible, while Vice-President JD Vance told Fox News that the plan was "fundamentally a dividend for American workers."
PBS reported that any proposal involving sending checks to Americans requires congressional approval, and it quoted election law professor Rick Hasen writing that Trump would have a strong First Amendment defense.P
What happens next
If the checks are to be paid, the sources say Congress would need to authorize spending, with PBS noting that any proposal involving sending checks to Americans requires congressional approval.P
“Any proposal involving sending checks to Americans requires congressional approval.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno said he would introduce a bill to "get the Trump Dividend passed immediately after the November 3rd election," while the BBC said the midterm elections on 3 November would decide whether Trump’s Republican Party keeps its hold over both the House and Senate.
The New York Times warned that the idea would likely require congressional approval, exacerbate the deficit, and lead to a rise in inflation, while Fortune reported that economists estimated the plan would cost about $1.35 trillion if paid to the full population of American adults.
The stakes extend beyond the dividend itself, because PBS said Trump compared the proposal to his administration’s decision to give members of the military checks for $1,776 in December, and the Reuters story said Trump has promised other "dividends" before that have not come to fruition.P