Foreign media reports that during the Republican Party's mid-term elections convention, Trump proposed that if the Republicans manage to retain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in November, they would distribute $5,000 to each American, calling it the "Trump dividend." The article argues that this promise is not in response to any sudden economic shocks, but rather is linked to his previous unfulfilled commitments regarding cash refunds and tax cuts.
Subject to the election results
According to reports, this commitment was made at the Republican Party's mid-term elections convention held in Dallas. Trump compared it to a company distributing dividends to its shareholders, but the condition for such distribution is not an economic recession or public crisis, rather whether the Republicans can retain control of both houses of Congress.
U.S. Vice President Pence subsequently stated that this money would not be distributed to high-income groups, which is a narrowing of Trump's initial statement. However, reports cited legal experts as saying that as long as the distribution is not directly linked to voting behavior, the plan itself may not necessarily be illegal.
The previous two cashback promotions were not implemented.
The article links this statement to two other cash commitments made during Trump's second term. One of them is the “DOGE dividend” proposed in early 2025, which originally stated that 20% of the funds saved by relevant departments would be returned to the public, with the amount once touted to be about $5,000 per household.
However, after an audit by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, it was stated that most of the savings claimed could not be verified, and this included a contract worth $1.7 billion that was not actually canceled. The project concluded in July 2025, and the so-called dividends were never realized.
The second point is tariff rebates. Since July 2025, Trump has proposed distributing rebates of about $2,000 to the public using tariff revenues. However, reports indicate that even his financial team did not clarify the implementation details at that time, and market expectations for actual fulfillment have always been very low.
Tax reduction commitments have yet to be fully fulfilled.
In addition to directly distributing money, Trump also promised during the campaign to eliminate taxes related to tips, overtime pay, and social security benefits. Reports indicate that these promises were not ultimately fully incorporated into legislation.
The tax reform bill signed by Trump in July 2025 only temporarily extended the deduction arrangements for certain tips and overtime income until 2028, rather than providing a full exemption. The article cites independent calculations stating that if all related commitments are fulfilled, there could be an additional trillion dollars in fiscal deficits over the next decade.
The article also mentions that other regions have previously provided universal cash subsidies, such as Hong Kong, China, Japan, and Singapore, but these were usually linked to pandemics or economic shocks, and were not conditional on a particular political party winning elections.
The report suggests that Trump's promise of $5,000 this time is more akin to a political mobilization campaign surrounding the mid-term elections. Since Congress holds the power to allocate fiscal funds, no relevant legislation has been formally proposed yet. Only Republican senators have indicated that they might push for legislation immediately after the November elections.
