Donald Trump Faces Bribery Accusations by Promising Voters $5k Each if Republicans Win Midterms
Donald Trump faces bribery accusations by promising to pay every adult $5,000 if the Republicans win the midterms.
Sept. 10 2026, Published 7:59 a.m. ET
Donald Trump has sparked bribery accusations by promising to pay every adult $5,000 if the Republicans win the midterms.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the president’s latest outrageous speech took place during the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, on Wednesday.
'It Will Be Called The Trump Dividend'
The president announced his latest idea during the Republican National Convention in Dallas.
The president said the payment would be made to every adult if the Republican party win both the House of Representatives and Senate at the election on November 3 — and branded the cash incentive "the Trump Dividend."
He said: "Because of our economic, tremendous economic success, like in history, we’ve never had anything like what’s happening, but because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.
"If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000.
"It will be called the Trump dividend."
Payment 'Must Be Spent In The U.S.'
Trump does not want the payment used outside of the U.S.
However, the Commander-in-Chief did issue caveat to the policy, saying the payment must be spent domestically.
He explained: "The dividend that we’re making must be spent in the United States of America.
"We don't want you going to Canada to spend the money. We don’t want you going to China, to Germany."
There are approximately 268 million adult Americans, meaning the policy would cost the U.S. government a whopping $1.3 trillion, sparking inflation fears.
Wealthy Excluded From Payment
J.D. Vance revealed hours after the president's speech the 'Trump Dividend' would not go to the rich.
Vice President J.D. Vance has already started the water down Trump's proposal by suggesting the dividend payments would not go to the wealthy.
Vance, 42, suggested it could be paid for by U.S. tariff revenues, though the suggested payment dwarfs what the U.S. has taken in through the protectionist measures
Marc Goldwein, the senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a think tank in Washington, said Trump has no authority to send money to Americans without approval from Congress.
Goldwein added that dividends are something that companies pay when there's a surplus, but the U.S. is running $2 trillion annual deficits and has $40 trillion in debt.
He said: "The idea that we've had fiscal success is backwards and bordering on laughable.
"We don't have surpluses to give away."
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Trump's £5k cash incentive is a tactic previously deployed by Elon Musk.
The move was reminiscent of billionaire Elon Musk's efforts to buy votes in last year's Wisconsin state Supreme Court race, where he handed out million-dollar checks to voters to try to boost a candidate who ultimately lost.
Trump has discussed the possibility before but has never tied it to his party's electoral fortunes. Earlier this year, he proposed a $2,000 dividend and said he didn't think he needed approval from Congress.
Last year, Trump gave members of the military a $1,776 check that he called a "warrior dividend."
"I will get a bill ready so that we can get the Trump Dividend passed immediately after the November 3rd election," Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio wrote on X late Wednesday. "Because Republicans (and America) will win!"
A $5,000 check would give each American more money than they received in direct government payments from COVID-19 relief measures during Trump's first term.
