Only 21% Expect Trump to Issue Proposed $5,000 Dividend

President Donald Trump has proposed a $5,000 payment for adult U.S. citizens if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate in the 2026 midterm elections, but voters remain skeptical and the program’s basic rules are unsettled.

Only 21% of respondents said Trump would probably or definitely issue the payment, while 57% said he probably or definitely would not. Separately, 48% supported sending $5,000 to every adult U.S. citizen, compared with 40% who opposed the idea.

Trump said during a Sept. 9 speech in Dallas, “I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.” He said the payment would have to be spent in the United States.

In an Oct. 3 Truth Social post published at 7:56 a.m. ET (11:56 a.m. UTC), Trump wrote, “If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 Midterm Elections, I’m going to give all Adult Citizens in the United States of America, $5,000.”

Trump described the dividend as approximately $1 trillion and linked its funding capacity to tariff revenue and economic activity. The proposal’s total cost would be about $1.35 trillion if $5,000 were paid to the estimated 269.8 million adults in the United States in 2025.

That adult-population estimate does not show how many people are U.S. citizens, so it does not establish the program’s final cost. The estimated total U.S. population was 341.8 million on July 1, 2025, including children and noncitizens.

Trump’s Sept. 9 speech and Oct. 3 post both limited the proposed payment to adult U.S. citizens.

No legislation, appropriations measure or administrative process has been identified for issuing the payments. Eligibility, funding, timing and payment procedures have not been finalized, leaving any payment contingent on both the election outcome and later action to create the program.