(DALLAS, TEXAS) – US President Donald Trump has pledged a $5,000 (approximately £3,950) payment to every American adult if the Republican Party retains control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in November’s midterm elections.
The proposal, which Trump described as a “Trump dividend” during a speech at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, on 10th September 2026, would cost more than a trillion dollars (approximately £790 billion) and has raised significant questions regarding its legality, feasibility and funding. Trump stated: “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.”
Federal law prohibits payments intended to influence voting. However, some legal experts argue the promise may be interpreted as a pledge to cut taxes, which is legal, rather than a direct payment to individuals. John Day, a lawyer from New Mexico, explained: “If someone came up to you on the street and said, ‘Here’s $5,000. I want you to go into that voting booth and vote for candidate X,’ that’s a direct campaign bribe. This is a policy declaration that applies to everybody dependent on the outcome of an election, but it’s not a direct bribe in the same way.”
Daniel Bush, reporting from the RNC in Dallas, noted that the consensus is clear: “You can’t make a direct cash bribe to someone to get their vote. The odds of this happening, of the US government giving more than a trillion dollars to well over 200 million Americans, is exceedingly vanishingly low.” He added that the announcement was likely an effort to energise support for Republicans at an unusual convention, with some of Trump’s own supporters describing it as “circus bribes.”
The pledge is not unprecedented. In 2025, Trump said income from tariffs would be used to benefit lower income families with a $2,000 (approximately £1,580) dividend, which has not materialised. In 2021, Democrats in Georgia promised $2,000 in relief payments if their party took control of the Senate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the US, Congress authorises spending. The midterms will determine whether Trump’s Republican Party retains control of both chambers. During his speech, Trump did not say whether he planned to ask Congress for approval. Bush explained that while the president found a workaround last year by issuing payments to military families from Pentagon spending already approved by Congress, lawmakers would generally have to agree to such a payout. “It’s very unclear whether or not they would want to do that, especially at a time when Trump is trying to make the case that Republicans are better stewards of the economy,” Bush said.
Speaking to the BBC, State Department correspondent Tom Baitman noted that Trump’s approval ratings have “absolutely tanked” in his second term, reaching a record low. Polling across the country puts the Democrats ahead by five to seven percentage points. Baitman identified Maine, Michigan, North Carolina and even Texas as potential targets for Democrats seeking Senate control.
On the ethics of the proposal, Baitman observed that Trump has “shifted the window of what American voters see as ethically acceptable.” He noted that Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records before being elected for a second term. “Among Mr. Trump’s supporters, they like the fact that he shoots from the hip, speaks his mind,” Baitman said. He added that this shift speaks to “a much deeper malaise which goes into the way that many voters feel let down by the global economic system.”
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