Trump pledges $5,000 payout if Republicans win US midterms

US President Donald Trump has promised a $5,000 payment to every adult American if Republicans win control of both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

The announcment during a Republican convention in Dallas, Texas, could cost the federal government about $1.3 trillion, based on the nearly 270 million adults in the United States.

Trump did not explain how the payments would be funded or distributed. He said only that recipients would have to spend the money in the US.

The proposal has already raised questions over its cost, legality and whether it could be implemented.

Democrats have dismissed the pledge as an “empty promise”.

Vice-President JD Vance suggested the payments could be funded by revenue generated through Trump’s tariff policies. He described the proposal as a dividend for American workers, arguing that the administration was collecting significant sums from tariffs imposed on foreign goods and companies.

Trump has previously floated a similar idea. He proposed $2,000 payments funded by tariff revenue.

Trump has defended his administration’s approach to Iran, saying that the economic costs of the conflict are necessary to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons. The war has disrupted energy markets, with the Strait of Hormuz largely closed. The key waterway normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

The disruption has pushed oil prices higher and increased pressure on Trump to bring the conflict to an end.

Speaking before the Republican convention, Trump warned supporters that the war would continue until after the midterm elections and that oil prices would not fall before then.

At the convention, he returned to the issue of household spending power.

“If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them,” Trump said, “I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.”

He also said the money should be spent domestically, telling supporters he did not want Americans using the payments to buy goods in countries such as Canada, China or Germany.

It remains unclear how such spending would be monitored.

The White House has yet to provide details on the proposed scheme, including whether Congress would need to approve it and how the government would raise enough money to finance the payments.