Dallas, Texas – United States President Donald Trump, a former reality television personality, is no stranger to game-show-style pledges. But on Wednesday, his remarks at the Republican National Convention in Dallas raised eyebrows as he appeared to hinge a cash prize on the outcome of the November midterm elections. His speech set the stakes: If Republicans maintain control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, Trump said he would give all US adults a “$5,000 dividend”.
But such a mass payout would set the US government back more than $1 trillion. Not only would the dividend come at a high cost for the federal budget, but it is also likely to inject an economy-rattling amount of cash into US markets, increasing the risk of inflation. Trump offered few details about how he could make good on such a promise.
He said only that the money must be spent in the US. Soon after Trump’s speech, Senator Bernie Moreno, a staunch Trump ally, pledged to introduce longshot legislation to codify the promise. Vice President JD Vance, meanwhile, appeared to temper the claim, saying Trump was referring to “a dividend for American workers” buoyed by his tariff policy.
Critics on both sides of the aisle, however, met the unorthodox pledge with a rare bipartisan sentiment: consternation. Many raised concerns about whether the dividend would violate federal law. Some supporters characterised the plan as a simple campaign promise.
Critics have argued it could constitute an illegal effort to sway the vote. Democrat Gavin Newsom, the governor of California and a likely 2028 presidential contender, has condemned the scheme as an attempt to “buy your vote with $5,000 in taxpayer-funded blood money”. Trump supporter Peter Bowen, 77, said he felt the pledge was out of step with a Republican ethos that eschews government handouts.
Still, he saw the plan, if legitimate, as a wily attempt by Trump to use a “Democratic Party trick”. But if the dividend did come to pass, he felt the high price tag would be outrageous. She said she was considering voting Democrat in November.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
