US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has promised every American adult $5,000 if his Republican Party succeeds in keeping control of both houses in the upcoming midterm elections.
The president made the promise during a convention dubbed “Trumpapalooza”.
“So if the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000 (€4,000). It will be called the Trump dividend,” Trump told Republicans in Texas, as the party struggles in polls against the Democrats.
Trump said this would be possible because of what he described as the country’s “tremendous strength and success economically”.
“Only I can make this promise to you,” he said, adding that the Republicans would have to win both the House of Representatives and the Senate for the money to be paid out.
.@POTUS announces the TRUMP DIVIDEND: If Republicans win both the House and the Senate, because of our tremendous economic success, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States for $5,000 pic.twitter.com/s4orJJGx9d
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 10, 2026
He did not say where the money would come from, citing only that “our country is making so much money.”
The Associated Press estimated that delivering on the promise would likely cost more than $1 trillion (€858.22 billion).
Republican supporters at the convention in Texas Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
The proposed payments would also need congressional approval.
Doubling down on his bet that he can help Republicans defy opinion polls and retain both houses of Congress on 3 November, Trump said: “I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot.”
“I’m on the ballot, I’m on the ballot, just one more time,” he told the crowd.
Opinion polls overwhelmingly show that Trump’s approval ratings are in the low 30s, as voters become increasingly angry about high prices and the war he launched against Iran.
Decision Desk HQ projects Democrats to win the House 230-205 and the Senate to finish 51-49 in their favour in November.
Inside the American Airlines Center, there was little sign of Republican anxiety about November.
The convention even featured a video address from Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who has become increasingly at odds with his party’s left wing over issues including his steadfast support for Israel.
Despite the political headwinds facing Republicans, the mood was festive. Chants of “USA! USA!” echoed around the hall as the national anthem opened the event.
Defending his war against Iran, which has flared up again this week and sent oil prices soaring above $100 million (€85.82 million) a barrel, Trump said it would come to an end after the November elections.
“Food prices and almost every other item are rapidly going down. And by the way oil will be going down as soon as we win the war with Iran, which is taking place right now,” Trump said.
CNN refuted the claim that food prices have gone down in an article fact-checking a number of the talking points from his speech. The claim is “not even close to true”, the network said.
A packed crowd fills the arena floor and upper seating levels at American Airlines Center in Dallas Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Leaning into the main theme of the Republican’s campaign messaging, Trump again attempted to portray the Democrats as “communists”.
“It’s going to be a communist country if they win,” he said.
“Your vote will decide whether our country stumbles at the starting gate of the next 250 years or surges forward and never ever looks back,” he said.
Offering money to voters is something the Republicans tried during a Wisconsin Supreme Court election in 2025, when one of the party’s biggest donors, Elon Musk, gave cheques worth $1 million (€858,000) to two people who signed a petition opposing “activist judges”.
The judge favoured by Musk ultimately lost that election.