$5,000 per adult if GOP wins both chambers

Trump warns against spending it in Korea, China, Japan

Aim is to keep money circulating inside US economy

Feasibility questioned over funding, inflation concerns

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US President Donald Trump [Getty Images]
US President Donald Trump [Getty Images]

Donald Trump has doubled down on a campaign pledge to pay every American adult $5,000 ahead of the midterm elections, while insisting the money must not be spent on overseas travel to South Korea, China, Japan or anywhere else abroad.

According to remarks Trump made at recent campaign rallies, as of Sunday (local time), Trump has repeatedly outlined a plan to distribute $5,000 per adult American if Republicans win control of both the Senate and the House in the midterms.

At a Florida rally on Friday, Trump called the dividend "something only Republicans can deliver" as he promoted the pledge.

Trump acknowledged the total payout would amount to roughly $1 trillion, but argued that the United States had generated $25 trillion in wealth through tariffs and other policies, adding, "When you think about it, it's really not that much."

Trump was emphatic, however, that the money must be spent within the United States.

Imagining a married couple each receiving $5,000 — a combined $10,000 — Trump said Americans should not be saying, "We've got $10,000, let's go spend it in China. Let's go to Japan. Let's go to Korea."

Trump went on to say that spending it in "a very romantic place — let's go to France" was equally off-limits, doubling down on the message that the dividend must stay in the country.

The condition appears designed to keep the money circulating inside the US economy rather than flowing abroad.

Trump made similar remarks at a Montana rally on Oct. 14, again naming South Korea, Japan and China.

"I don't want you saying, 'We've got $5,000, let's go spend it in China. Let's travel to Japan or Korea. Let's go to South America,'" Trump said at that event.

Trump went on to say, "That money has to be spent inside America — you could call it recycling or recirculating. It's about making you rich and making our country great."

Trump first unveiled the dividend idea in a keynote address at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, last September.

At the time, Trump promised $5,000 per adult if Republicans took control of Congress. Since then, Trump has repeated the pledge at campaign rallies, using it to rally the base.

The proposal has not been without controversy, however.

The Democratic Party has dismissed the dividend plan as a vote-buying gimmick ahead of the midterms.

US media outlets have also raised questions about how the roughly $1 trillion price tag would be financed, warning that a large-scale cash handout could stoke inflation and expand the national debt.

Whether the pledge can be fulfilled at all remains uncertain. Republicans are seen as potentially losing their House majority in the midterms, and Senate races are expected to be closely contested.

Because Trump has tied the dividend directly to a Republican sweep of both chambers, the plan could collapse entirely depending on the election outcome.


sjy@heraldcorp.com