Trump defends $5,000 dividend as 'real entrepreneurship', says Democrats 'can’t do it'

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Thursday, September 10, defended his proposed $5,000 “Trump dividends” for US adults in an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham, calling the plan “real entrepreneurship” after it was criticized as “MAGA socialism.”

Trump said he believes the payments could be made because his administration is bringing in substantial revenue and said he may not even need congressional approval for it. The president also argued that Democrats could not deliver the same proposal because of what he described as weaker economic growth. 

Trump says $5,000 dividend can be done as questions remain over plan

Ingraham asked Trump whether he had discussed the proposed payment with House Speaker Mike Johnson or Senate Majority Leader John Thune. The 80-year-old said he speaks with both lawmakers and described ways his administration is bringing in the revenue for it.

"I do speak to them. We can do it. There are... a lot of people think I don't even need congressional approval because we've made so much money. We're making money, even like TikTok. We got a fee, I got a fee for our country, $10 billion. In Intel, I made... I didn't buy, I said, if I'm going to help you, meaning if the country's going to help you, I want 10 percent of the company."

Ingraham then pointed out that the proposal had been described as “MAGA socialism.” Trump firmly rejected that characterization. "It's real entrepreneurship. That's really what it is. You know, I see that. Oh, some people say, 'That's communism.' It's not communism. It's actually good entrepreneurship,” he said.

However, Trump did not provide a detailed explanation of the legal authority he would use to issue the payments without Congress. His original announcement also did not establish how recipients would receive the money, when payments would begin, or how the administration would enforce his requirement that the money be spent in the US.

Trump first announced the proposal on the first day of the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas, stating that every adult US citizen would receive $5,000 if Republicans won both chambers.

"Here is my promise: if the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them... I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000," Trump said.

Trump points to tariffs and economic gains as potential source

Trump also addressed why he would condition the proposed payments on a Republican victory rather than distributing them immediately, attributing it to the difference in economic performance under his administration and that of the Democrats. 

"I’ll tell you what, because the Democrats can't do it. Because with them it's negative growth. With us it's so positive. So we're taking in $21 trillion. Nobody, no country's ever taken in anywhere near that. It's four or five times higher than the next one. All because of that beautiful word that you and I love more than most others: tariffs," he said. 

The proposed program could cost more than $1 trillion if all adult US citizens qualified. Estimates based on 2024 Census data put the number of adult US citizens at roughly 245.3 million, which would put the cost of $5,000 payments at more than $1.2 trillion.