- Republicans are groaning over President Donald Trump's campaign promise to award voters $5,000 if Republicans win the midterms in November, with some likening it to a 'bribe.'
'If Republicans win both the House and the Senate, because of our tremendous economic success, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States for $5,000,' Trump declared Wednesday evening at a Republican rally in Dallas.
Trump did not delve into the details of the plan, only noting that dividend payments would be awarded to American citizens and would need to be spent within the US.
The stunning pledge floored some of the president's most devout supporters.
'For the record, I am hugely in favor of winning the midterms, and love much about this admin, but am strongly against bread and circus bribes,' Palantir co-founder and GOP donor Joe Lonsdale reacted.
At $5,000 per citizen, the payments would dwarf those given out during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Estimates vary, but the plan could cost between $1 and $1.3 trillion, a massive figure that would surely increase the national debt, blow out the federal budget and potentially lead to further inflation.
'I would like to know how they would plan to pay for … back of envelope … well over $1 trillion,' Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy wrote on X.
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas told Politico the initiative would cost 'a massive amount' and he would prefer that there be restrictions on who could receive the money.
'I don’t know about you all, but frankly I’m insulted by the notion that my vote this November could be bought for 5k,' Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Trump critic, reacted on X.
'Not to mention the inflation this would cause. All things considered, I cannot in good conscience accept a penny less than 10k!'
The latest payment promise is just one of many Trump has promised throughout his second term.
He promised Americans would receive a $5,000 'DOGE dividend,' and a $2,000 'tarif
