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By Chris Matthews
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President Donald Trump has renewed his promise to give Americans $5,000 each if Republicans win the midterms, despite continuing questions over how the proposed handout—which would cost about $1.22 trillion—would be funded.
Trump repeated his pledge during his final address before Election Day, vowing to pay every adult American citizen if Republicans retained control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and including a stipulation that the payment must be spent inside the country.
"If we win the election, everybody is going to get $5,000. Every adult is going to get $5,000, but you have to spend it in the United States of America," Trump said in his address at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday, without explaining how the government would enforce the requirement to spend the money domestically or when the payments would be made.
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How Trump Plans To Fund $5,000 Promise
The president first announced the proposal at the Republican National Convention in Dallas in September, describing it as a dividend that Americans would receive if Republicans retained control of Congress.
The promise has raised questions about the government's ability to afford such a large payout, particularly as different members of the administration offer conflicting explanations for where the money would come from.
Trump previously suggested the payments could be funded through economic growth, while Vice President JD Vance pointed to revenue generated by tariffs.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the money would not come from taxpayers, but that revenue from other government initiatives could help cover the cost.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett also raised the possibility of using the congressional reconciliation process to authorize the payments.
However, none of those proposals has produced a detailed funding plan.
The $1.22 trillion price tag is based on Census Bureau figures that estimate 245.3 million adult citizens are in the U.S.
The estimated cost far exceeds the revenue generated by tariffs, one of the possible funding sources promoted by the administration. The U.S. collected about $195 billion in customs duties during the 2025 fiscal year.
The administration's ability to rely on tariff revenue has also been complicated by a Supreme Court ruling in February that struck down certain tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
By early August, the government had refunded about $100 billion in duties collected under the invalidated measures.
Even if Republicans won both chambers of Congress, the payments would still require legislation authorizing the spending.
The proposal has also faced criticism from within Trump's own party.
Republican Representative Ralph Norman of South Carolina previously raised concerns about the cost of the checks and whether they could be funded without adding to the national debt.
Norman wrote on X, "Tying government checks to the outcome of an election starts to sound like pay-to-play politics."
He also said he could not support the proposal without a clear explanation of how it would be financed.
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Newsweek: "The doomers and naysayers have consistently doubted President Trump: when he pledged to create the historic Trump Accounts, lowered prescription prices with Most Favored Nations, secured the border with no crossings, cleaned up our streets, ended taxes on tips, grew real wages, renegotiated broken trade deals, and reshored key manufacturing back to the United States.
"President Trump has consistently proven his doubters wrong, drawing a clear contrast with the Democrats' record of historic inflation, unfettered illegal immigration, skyrocketing crime, and weakness on the world stage. With the continued support of the American people, President Trump will keep delivering real results."
Voters Express Concerns Over Economy
Trump's handling of the economy has remained a major concern for voters. An NBC poll published in October found that 73 percent of Americans disapproved of his handling of inflation and the cost of living, compared with 27 percent who approved.
The survey also found that 44 percent believed their financial situation had worsened over the previous year, while 38 percent said it had remained about the same.
The president has increasingly promoted direct financial assistance as a way of addressing those concerns.
Other measures announced by his administration include $90 checks to help seniors with Medicare premiums, $500 Obamacare refunds and an $8 billion fuel relief program for farmers struggling with high diesel prices.
The approach followed the popularity of stimulus checks issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal government under Trump and later the Biden administration distributed direct payments to millions of Americans.
Unlike those payments, Trump's proposed $5,000 dividend is explicitly tied to Republicans winning elections.
The president has repeatedly defended his economic policies and argued that Americans would benefit from continued Republican control of Congress.
However, with no legislation authorizing the checks and no agreed funding mechanism, the payments remain a campaign promise rather than a confirmed government program as voters head to the polls.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Matthew Cannon and Shakeema Edwards.
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