Trump says $5,000 ‘dividend’ would be ‘easy’ to fund if Republicans win midterms

US president Donald Trump has renewed his promise to give every adult American a $5,000 “dividend” if Republicans retain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections, arguing that the government would have enough revenue to fund the payment.Speaking to reporters in Ireland on Sunday, where he was attending a golf tournament at his club in Doonbeg, Trump said the payments could be managed if Republicans win.“I don't know but it's easy if the Republicans win. $5,000 to all adults in the country and we can easily handle that because we're taking in so much money,” Trump said when asked whether Congress would need to approve the payments.Trump first unveiled the proposal at a Republican Party convention in Dallas last week, linking the promised payout to what he described as trillions of dollars coming into the country.On Friday, he reiterated the pledge, saying, “If we win the midterms, we will provide Trump dividend, $5,000 for every adult citizen in our country. And we can do that because our country has never done better. We're taking in trillions, trillions of dollars. There's never been any country, not even close, that's come anywhere near. So it's $5,000 for every adult. We love our adults. It's about time we take care of our adults.”Trump also tied the proposal to his tax-cut agenda, saying: “We will make all Trump tax cuts. We're going to take those beautiful tax cuts. We're going to make them permanent because the Democrats want to end all those tax cuts. They want you to pay much higher taxes.”The proposed payment would carry a price tag of about $1.2 trillion, based on the US Census Bureau estimate of roughly 245 million adult US citizens, according to PBS. Trump has not provided details on how the payments would be funded.Trump had also promised $2,000 tariff dividend checks last November, but those payments never went out. The Tax Foundation had estimated tariff revenue would not cover the earlier $280–607 billion cost.Trump's proposal now faces questions over congressional approval, financing and its wider fiscal implications as the November midterms draw closer.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.