Donald Trump promised a $5,000 “dividend” to every adult American if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress, as he headlined the party’s midterm convention in Dallas, Texas.
The pledge came during a lengthy address on Wednesday, September 9, in which the president urged voters to treat November’s elections as a referendum on his administration and to “pretend” he was on the ballot.
Trump said the payment would be issued if Republicans won the House of Representatives and the Senate, describing it as the result of what he called the country’s “tremendous strength and success economically”. He said recipients would have to spend the money in the United States.
However, he offered no details on how the plan would be authorised or funded. The proposal could cost more than $1 trillion if it applied to the approximately 245 million adult citizens in the US.
Trump called the scheme the “Trump dividend” and said it would follow a Republican victory in the midterm elections. The party currently controls the presidency, the House and the Senate but faces pressure from voters over the economy and the rising cost of living.
The president also used the Republican midterm convention to defend the war in Iran, saying the US had been forced to act because Tehran was, in his assessment, “two, maybe three weeks away from having a nuclear weapon”.
He acknowledged that the conflict had affected the economy, saying he had told his advisers he disliked starting the war when the country had been “doing great”. Trump nevertheless insisted that the US was winning and suggested the fighting could continue until after the midterm elections.
He warned Iran not to escalate the confrontation and threatened further military action, while also referring to the surge in oil prices linked to the conflict.
Trump’s speech, which lasted almost two hours, was the centrepiece of the Republican Party’s first midterm convention. He said the party faced about 35 crucial House and Senate contests and promised to campaign in the states where Republican candidates were most vulnerable.
“If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” he told the crowd in Dallas.
