President Donald Trump, headlining the Republicans’ first-ever rally ahead of a midterm election, told a crowd gathered in Dallas, Texas, Wednesday night that he will issue a $5,000 dividend to every adult citizen in the United States if Republicans secure a majority in Congress on Nov. 3.
The president cited the United States’ strong economy that is “making so much money” as the reason he was able to make such a promise.
“Here is my promise,” Trump said. “If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them … because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.”
“The only caveat I have is that the dividend that we’re making must be spent in the United States of America,” he said.
“We don’t want you going to Canada to spend the money, we don’t want you going to China, to Germany—you’ve got to spend the money in the United States of America.”
Trump said the payment, which he called the Trump dividend, would be similar to how successful companies distribute cash to their shareholders.
He did not outline additional details of the payments.
When asked about the payments, White House spokesman Davis Ingle told The Epoch Times that Trump has “consistently proven his doubters wrong” by delivering on his promises. He listed Trump Accounts for children, lowering drug prices, securing the border, ending tax on tips, growing real wages, and reshoring key manufacturing back to the United States as some of the president’s achievements.
“With the continued support of the American people, President Trump will keep delivering real results,” 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 could cost about $1.3 trillion.
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.
Democrats can’t make the same promise to American voters, Trump said.
“The reason the Democrats can’t do that is because they don’t do tariffs, they don’t take in money,” he said.
“All they know is poverty and how to ruin our country. But we’re making a fortune.
“If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000.”
Earlier Pitch
Trump first floated the idea of a dividend to be paid to the American people from the tariff money collected by his administration in November 2025.
At the time, Trump said he wanted to issue $2,000 dividends sourced from his global tariff policies imposed since he returned to office for a second term.
He limited eligibility for the payments to lower- and middle-income people.
White House officials said at the time that any tariff dividend payments would need an act of Congress to be made possible, while Trump signaled he could unilaterally issue them.
Tariffs and National Debt
The president, at the end of 2025, also said he foresaw being able to substantially cut or even abolish federal income taxes at some point as a result of his tariff policy. He also said that the duties could be used to pay down the national debt, which at the time stood at around $38.1 trillion. The national debt has since expanded to more than $40 trillion.
That was before the Supreme Court in February ruled that Trump could not impose tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) he had relied on for his broadest duties.
The Congressional Budget Office said on Sept. 9 that tariff collections had reduced since May, when the administration started issuing refunds following the Supreme Court’s strike down of Trump’s IEEPA tariffs.
To date, those refunds have cost the federal budget an estimated $110 billion. A majority of the $133.9 billion in customs duties collected in the 2025 financial year were a result of Trump’s multiple tariffs.
The administration imposed new tariffs after the decision, but it raised less revenue, with the CBO reducing the effective tariff rate from 15 percent in November 2025 to 10 percent in July.
The CBO also estimated in November 2025 that under the IEEPA tariffs, U.S. budget deficits were to be reduced by $3 trillion over the next decade. The latest estimate has seen that deficit reduction estimate shrink to $2.1 trillion due to changes to the tariff regime.
The White House declined to comment regarding the national debt.
The Joint Economic Committee said in a Sept. 8 debt update, “Relative to one year ago, total gross national debt is $2.67 trillion higher; relative to five years ago, it is $11.68 trillion higher.”
Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget President Maya MacGuineas said on Sept. 9 that hard choices have been delayed for far too long.
“If lawmakers want to fix our laundry list of issues, they should come together and agree to a plan to target reducing deficits to 3 percent of GDP—half their current level—and get to work on shoring up our trust funds,” she said in a statement. “If not, we risk leaving future generations with damage that can’t be undone.”
Voters to Decide
Trump also repeated a message he’s made during recent primary races, saying that voters should vote like he is on the ballot.
“I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot … just one more time,” he said. “Because if we lose, you’re going to lose your border, you’re going to lose your tax cuts, you’re going to lose your safety and security.”
Republican candidates, policymakers, social media influencers, and political organizations were among the thousands of attendees at the two-day convention. Organizers said beforehand they expected about 20,000 people, with tickets for the public being assigned via a lottery.
Day two of the GOP rally will feature a keynote speech from Vice President JD Vance. Trump is scheduled to close out the convention.
Jack Phillips and Savannah Hulsey Pointer contributed to this report.
