U.S. President Donald Trump has promised every adult U.S. citizen a 5,000 dollars payment if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in November’s elections.
“So if the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get 5,000 dollars,” Trump said at a Republican Party convention in Dallas on Wednesday.
He said the payment would be called the “Trump dividend.”
Trump said the payment would be made if Republicans maintained their majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives.
With more than 245 million adults in the United States, the proposal would cost more than one trillion dollars by a rough estimate, about as much as the country’s entire defence budget.
A measure to make such payments would therefore appear unlikely to be politically or financially viable in Congress.
The idea of direct payments to U.S. citizens is not new. Trump proposed a $2,000 payment last year but did not pursue the plan.
The money was intended to give people a share of US tariff revenues, with higher earners excluded.
On November 3, U.S. voters will elect roughly one-third of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives.
The president’s party typically loses seats in such elections. With Republicans holding only a narrow majority, particularly in the House, a Republican defeat there is considered likely.
Trump justified his 5,000 dollars promise by pointing to what he described as the U.S. economy’s enormous success.
He compared the payment to a profit-sharing scheme at a company and said the money would have to be spent in the U.S.
