President Trump vowed Wednesday to send a $5,000 "dividend" to every American citizen after the midterms, but only if Republicans hold onto control of the House and Senate.
The announcement came almost an hour into Mr. Trump's speech to the Republican National Committee's first-of-its-kind midterm convention in Dallas, as he seeks to rally Republican voters and fight significant political headwinds in the November elections.
"If the Republicans win, you win with us and you get $5,000," he said.
The president did not offer details on how the payments — which he dubbed "Trump Dividends" — would work, including whether he plans to ask Congress to authorize the checks. He has floated the idea of cutting checks to U.S. citizens in the past, proposing $2,000 dividends funded by tariffs last year.
Mr. Trump argued the payments would be a consequence of the country's "tremendous economic success," and suggested they could be funded partially by his administration's tariffs on foreign goods.
The U.S. has brought in just under $500 billion in tariff and excise tax revenue since the start of last year, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center. More than $100 billion has been refunded due to a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year that struck down many of the administration's tariffs.
Sending out $5,000 checks to all of America's approximately 245 million adult citizens could cost upwards of $1 trillion.
There is some precedent for broad-based payments to U.S. households. In 2020 and 2021, Congress allowed the Biden and first Trump administrations to send out several rounds of checks to American households in an effort to stimulate the COVID-ravaged economy. But any economic stimulus program runs the risk of causing inflation to spike, and many economists believe the pandemic-era stimulus was at least partially responsible for the rise in consumer prices that ensued over the following years.
During Wednesday's speech, Mr. Trump likened the payments to his Trump Account child investment funds, which were authorized by Congress, and last year's "warrior dividend" bonuses to U.S. service members, which were funded through a military housing supplement approved by lawmakers.
Mr. Trump is seeking to rally Republicans ahead of the midterms, vowing during Wednesday's speech to campaign for vulnerable GOP lawmakers, and urging voters to treat the November elections as a referendum on his presidency.
"I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot … just one more time," Mr. Trump said, repeating a line he has used several times in recent weeks.
But Republicans are facing down voters' historical tendency to reject the party that controls the White House in the midterms. Mr. Trump's own lagging approval rating could also be a drag on the party, with Democrats seeking to capitalize on the Iran war's unpopularity and voters' unhappiness with the Trump administration's handling of the economy.
Mr. Trump acknowledged that historical trend, saying, "the midterms are not supposed to be won by the sitting president," but "we're going to change that."
He told the audience he views about 35 House and Senate districts as especially crucial, and vowed to "go to every one of those states," holding both in-person rallies and telephone town halls. Many candidates likely also want access to the president's nine-figure super PAC war chest.
The president hit many of his familiar rally points during the speech, touting his record on border security, last year's tax legislation, his tariff-heavy approach to trade and his White House renovation kick — including his planned ballroom.
He defended his decision to launch the war with Iran, insisted the U.S. is winning, predicted the conflict will wrap up after the midterm elections and mused about renaming the Strait of Hormuz the "Trump Strait."
He also jabbed congressional Democrats.
"Hand America's future to the radical-left Democrats, and our nation will spend the next decade just getting back on its feet. It will be a tragedy," he said. "Vote Republican, and we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come."
Several Trump-allied midterm contenders are slated to speak at the convention. The GOP's embattled Senate candidates in Texas and Georgia — state Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Mike Collins, respectively — addressed the crowd on Wednesday.
Collins is fighting to unseat Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, and Paxton is seeking to prevent James Talarico from becoming the first Democrat to represent Texas in the Senate since the early 1990s.
Mr. Trump vowed to support Paxton, saying he's willing to visit Texas multiple times to campaign if necessary. At one point, he said Paxton "may not dress right," "may not talk exactly perfectly" and "may not be the best-looking guy I've ever seen," but added: "He's the greatest attorney general in America, and he deserves to be your next senator."
Other battleground state Republicans are not planning to attend the two-day midterm convention. A handful of vulnerable GOP House candidates told CBS News earlier this week they plan to spend this week campaigning instead.
The convention cost about $40 million to stage and organizers raised funds to cover the cost, several sources with knowledge of the matter told CBS News.
Shortly after Mr. Trump's remarks, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin called the convention a "desperate attempt by Republicans to ignore the reality that all of their vulnerable candidates are poised to lose in November."
"Republicans now have to spin his disastrous, rambling speech when it's clear that this bizarre dog-and-pony show is being held to placate Trump's fragile ego," Martin said in a statement.