Donald Trump made voters an extraordinary promise at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas: Keep the GOP in control of Congress this November, and every American adult gets $5,000.
Trump even gave it a name — the “Trump Dividend.”
“If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000,” Trump told the crowd.
It’s the kind of promise that’s almost impossible to ignore, especially at a time when millions of Americans are still struggling with high prices, housing costs and stubborn inflation.
But there’s a pretty big problem.
Trump suggested that he may not even need Congress to make the payments happen.
“We think not,” Trump told CBS Texas when asked whether congressional approval would be necessary.
Then his own House speaker was asked the same question.
Mike Johnson had a very different answer.
“I would assume, yes, he’d need Congress to act,” Johnson said Sunday.
That matters because we’re not talking about a small government program.
Sending $5,000 to roughly 245 million adult American citizens would cost more than $1.2 trillion. And under the Constitution, Congress controls federal spending — meaning Trump can’t simply write more than a trillion dollars in checks on his own.
Johnson isn’t opposing the idea. He said Republicans would try to work through the proposal and find enough support to move it forward.
But that still leaves Trump with a serious problem: The president told voters he would deliver the money if Republicans win, while the Republican who actually runs the House says Congress would first have to approve it.
And Trump isn’t backing down.
Hours after Johnson’s comments, Trump was asked about the proposal again.
“The 5,000’s going to happen, 100%,” he insisted.
There’s another reason Americans might want to wait before deciding how to spend that money.
Trump has floated big cash payments before.
He previously entertained the idea of a $5,000 “DOGE dividend” tied to government savings. Those checks never arrived. He later promised Americans a tariff-funded dividend of at least $2,000. Those payments didn’t arrive either.
Now, just weeks before voters decide control of Congress, the number has jumped to $5,000 — and Trump has explicitly tied the payment to a Republican victory.
Could Congress ultimately approve it? Yes.
Johnson says he’s willing to try.
But right now, Trump is promising Americans thousands of dollars if his party wins an election — without legislation in place to actually send them the money.
And his own House speaker just made clear that winning the election alone won’t be enough.
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Promises Promises. But does Chump ever deliver? He has delivered about $1.4 Billon to himself over the past year and a half. The rich get richer ya know. The Bible tells us so. Amen?
Amen indeed, yes. The rich really do get richer in this scenario.