Back in September, US President Donald Trump promised to issue a historic $5,000 cash payment to every adult American citizen if the Republican Party wins the upcoming midterm elections in November. On Friday (US time), he appeared to expand what he calls the “Trump Dividend” offering to “every US citizen,” not just adult Americans.
However, it remains unclear if it was simply a Freudian slip or if Trump had, in fact, expanded the proposed payment to all US citizens.
Trump expands cash prize if Republicans win midterms
Taking to his Truth Social website, Donald Trump announced that his administration will “immediately” start issuing “Checks” of nearly $100 to over 200 million senior citizens to help pay for their Medicare Part B premiums.
“This money will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, a pointless “Slush Fund” that has only been used by Dumocrats in Congress to pay for the Waste, Fraud, and Abuse for their Special Interest friends, and drive up Healthcare costs,” he wrote online.
“We are finally using this Fund, along with my Most Favored Nations Deals, to substantially LOWER costs for our Seniors. I pledged to protect and preserve Medicare and Social Security, which were on the verge of RUIN by Joe Biden, who foolishly and maliciously let tens of millions of Illegal Aliens into our Country, and we are doing just that for America’s Seniors.”
Trump noted that these offerings were separate from the Refund “Checks” his administration is sending one million Americans for being “overcharged” for ObamaCare.
More about the Trump Dividend
In the same social media post, Trump added, “Because I delivered on this very important issue for the American People, they can also rest assured the highly popular $5,000 Trump Dividend will be distributed to every U.S. Citizen if, and when, the Republicans win the Midterm Elections!”
The POTUS had already previously acknowledged the proposed payments, which he now calls the “Trump Dividend,” could cost more than $1 trillion. According to the US Census, there are about 240 million adult US citizens, which would cost a total of $1.2 trillion.
Budget watchdogs are already projecting it would widen the US debt, with the Congressional Budget Office estimating the government has taken in $167 billion in the fiscal year that ends September 30. The amount is clearly not enough to fund the cost of Trump’s proposed giveaway.
Vice President JD Vance, on the other hand, previously suggested that the dividends could be paid for using tariff revenue, and such cheques won’t go to wealthy Americans.
Trump had promised a similar $2,000 dividend in November 2025 linked to tariff revenue and said it wouldn’t apply to wealthy people. However, no responsive action followed. Then, in December 2025, he sent a one-time “warrior dividend” of $1,776 to roughly 1.45 million military members, drawing on already Congress-approved money.
In a similar bid, Elon Musk, who was one of the biggest financial supporters of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, also offered cash incentives to registered voters in certain states who signed a “petition in favour of free speech and the right to bear arms.”