Trump pledges $5,000 dividend checks if GOP keeps Congress

President Trump said Sunday that $5,000 dividend checks will “happen 100 percent” if Republicans keep their majority in Congress after the midterm elections. The president tied the potential payout to his claim that the country is “taking in trillions and trillions of dollars.”

Speaking to reporters outside Air Force One on Sunday, Trump compared the proposal to the $1,776 checks that went out to U.S. service members, saying he has received similar pushback.

“The $5,000 is going to happen 100 percent,” he said. “And the reason is because our country is taking in trillions and trillions of dollars. And it’s going to happen.”

Trump said he will not send the dividends out while Republicans control Congress.

“I don’t want to do it now, because if the Democrats get it, our country will be in shambles and they won’t be able to do it,” he continued. “If we get in, we’re taking in tremendous amounts of money. We’re taking in over $20 trillion in terms of investment. And with the Democrats, all of that money will be thrown out. If the Democrats get in, they won’t be able to pay it.”

Trump first pledged the checks last Wednesday during the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention. He said his administration can disburse the proposed dividends “because we’ve done so well,” adding that the payments will only be used in the U.S.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday that the dividends would not rely on taxpayer dollars, but that the administration could “earn the money that Donald Trump wants to pay out, not from the deficit and not from taxpayers.”

White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett suggested the dividends could materialize via a reconciliation package through Congress, which holds appropriating power. The administration cannot spend public money on anything without funds set aside by lawmakers.

The $1,776 checks sent to around 1.45 million service members last year were part of a one-time housing supplement added to Trump’s sweeping tax and spending law known as the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Rep. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) announced after Trump’s pledge that he would introduce a bill in Congress to ensure the checks happen.

Paul Berman, a professor at George Washington University Law School, previously told The Hill that tariff revenue would not cover the estimated $1.3 trillion it would take to dole out the checks. The president’s tariffs have generated roughly $341 billion in net revenue since the start of 2025, according to Treasury Department data cited by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

“Even if there were, that’s money that goes back to the public fisc, and then Congress is the one that has the power of the purse to allocate it,” Berman said.

The Supreme Court struck down the Trump administration’s sweeping tariffs, ordering a refund of $166 billion of what was generated.

Some Republicans have pushed back on the dividends. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis highlighted the national debt and suggested the proposal would lead to more inflation.

“From the few details we have, it seems that the proposed $5,000 dividend would not have an income cap and would be extraordinarily costly,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said.