President Donald Trump has promised a $5,000 payment to every American adult if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in the coming midterm elections. Trump made the promise of a so-called “Trump dividend” at the Republican Party’s midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday night. He said the money would have to be spent in the U.S., although he did not offer details on how that restriction would be enforced.
TIME has reached out to the White House for comment. Bernie Moreno (R, Ohio) endorsed the proposal and said he would prepare legislation to pass the dividend after the election. The proposal could also have significant economic consequences.
The U.S. has roughly 240 million adult citizens, according to Census Bureau data, putting the proposal’s cost at approximately $1.2 trillion. Unless offset by new revenue or spending cuts, the payments would likely widen the federal budget deficit—which totaled nearly $1.8 trillion in fiscal 2025—and could add to inflationary pressures. Vance later narrowed the proposal, suggesting that wealthy Americans would not qualify.
He added that the payments could be financed by tariff revenue, which amounted to around $154.5 billion in the first 10 months of fiscal 2026 through July. Trump suggested that the dividend would be financed by “tremendous economic success” from his policies. In his first term, Trump authorized two rounds of congressionally-approved stimulus checks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Wednesday, he also compared the promised dividend with the $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” announced for military service members in December, which was funded by a congressionally approved housing supplement. Some, however, are skeptical about the idea. Chip Roy, (R, Texas) told Politico, “I would like to know how they would plan to pay for … back of envelope … well over $1 trillion.” The Democratic National Committee said Trump and Republicans have repeatedly promised rebate checks that never materialized.
The President previously promised to send $2,000 tariff dividends to Americans. He also endorsed returning 20% of DOGE savings to taxpayers and depositing $1,000 or more into eligible Americans’ health savings accounts. None of these payments has gone out: the DOGE and tariff dividends were never enacted, and the HSA legislation—a Republican alternative to extending enhanced ACA premium tax credits, which expired at the end of 2025—failed in the Senate.
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