US President Donald Trump has proposed paying every adult citizen of the country $5,000 if the Republican Party retains control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate at the same time. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
He made the unusual campaign promise at the Republican convention in Dallas, Reuters reports.
"If Republicans win, you win along with us and get $5,000. It will be called 'Trump dividends'," the US president said.
Trump compared the potential payments to dividends that successful companies distribute among their shareholders. According to him, the "economic strength and success" of the United States makes it possible to hand out the money.
The president set another condition: Americans must spend the $5,000 they receive inside the country. He did not explain how the authorities intend to monitor compliance with this requirement.
The US has about 245 million adult citizens. Thus, fulfilling Trump's promise would cost the federal budget roughly $1.23 trillion, Associated Press calculated based on data from the US Census Bureau.
This is comparable to the country's largest items of government spending. At the same time, in the 2025 fiscal year the US federal budget deficit was almost $1.8 trillion.
Trump himself did not name a source of funding for the program. Vice President JD Vance suggested the money could come from revenue from import tariffs. He also allowed that wealthy Americans would not receive the "dividends", although the president initially spoke of all adult citizens.
However, tariff revenues are not comparable to the estimated cost of the payments. According to the Congressional Budget Office, in the current fiscal year they brought in about $167 billion — roughly seven times less than the required sum.
The president cannot direct more than $1 trillion to payments on his own. The right to dispose of federal budget funds belongs to Congress, so lawmakers must approve the initiative.
Republicans control both chambers, but they hold a narrow majority. In addition, advancing most bills through the Senate requires 60 votes. This restriction can be bypassed using a special budget procedure, but its use would also require the support of Trump's fellow party members.
From a legal standpoint, the promise itself is not necessarily considered voter bribery: the payments are offered to all adult citizens regardless of whether they voted and for whom they voted.
In November 2025, Trump proposed paying Americans $2,000 from customs revenues. However, after the statement no practical steps followed.
At the same time, in December 2025 about 1.45 million US service members received one-time payments of $1,776. The money for the so-called "warrior dividends" was allocated from funds previously approved by Congress.
Midterm elections will be held in the US on November 3, 2026. As a result, the House of Representatives will be fully re-elected and part of the Senate will be renewed.