President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that his administration would pay a $5,000 “Trump Dividend” to each American adult if voters help Republicans keep their congressional majority through the 2026 midterms.
“So if the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” Trump said of the plan during his speech at the Republican midterm convention in Texas. “It will be called the Trump Dividend.”
The president offered few details of the plan, but he said the funds would have to be spent in America. He argued the checks would be a reflection of the country’s economic success under the Trump administration and the funds collected as a result of the president’s tariffs.
The Republican called the offer the “best part” of his much-anticipated convention speech, and he compared the payout to the administration’s $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” checks for American military service members.
The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.
Commentators accused the president of attempting to bribe voters to back Republicans, who are forecast to suffer heavy losses in November.
In a post on X, reporter Sam Stein accused the president of describing “openly bribing people to vote for Republicans.”
Such a plan would likely cost more than $1 trillion.
Trump has repeatedly floated sending money to Americans under various payment plans, only for the funds to never materialize.
On the campaign trail, the Republican said the government or insurers would be mandated to pay “all costs” associated with in vitro fertilization, though no such program has been instituted.
Similarly, the president endorsed a proposal to return 20 percent of the savings from the White House’s DOGE cost-cutting program to Americans through checks as high as $5,000, but that plan didn’t pan out either.
There have also been substantial delays in refunding U.S. businesses that paid Trump administration tariffs that were later struck down by the Supreme Court.
Direct payments to Americans have occurred in the past. During the depths of the Covid era, the federal government and state governments sent payments to U.S. citizens to offset the economic difficulties of the pandemic.
Trump ally Elon Musk faced allegations of vote-buying during the 2024 election, which he denied.
During the presidential race, Musk, a prominent Trump surrogate, carried out a $1 million-per-day sweepstakes for voters who signed a petition supporting the U.S. Constitution. Critics said the scheme was a thinly veiled attempt to buy a Trump win.
In June, a federal judge ordered Musk to testify about the giveaway in the face of proposed class-action lawsuits.
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