House speaker says $5,000 'Trump Dividend' needs congressional approval
Trump says $5K checks will '100 percent' happen
President Trump spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One en route back to Washington, D.C. from Ireland.
President Donald Trump’s pledge to send $5,000 to every American adult if Republicans keep control of Congress would require lawmakers’ approval, House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday.
The backstory:
Trump unveiled the promise of a "Trump Dividend" during the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas last week. He later told CBS News Texas he did not believe Congress needed to authorize the payments, though he offered no explanation for how he could distribute more than $1 trillion without legislative approval.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens as Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks during a press conference at Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate on April 12, 2024, in Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Gett
What they're saying:
Speaker Johnson said the plan would need congressional approval, but he’d work to get the president’s proposal through Congress despite a small Republican margin, saying, "I would assume, yes, he’d need Congress to act, and that’s a creative idea."
"He’s the big ideas president. We’re going to try to implement everything we can," he said. "I commit that Congress will work through it and find consensus on that like they have to do everything else," Johnson added.
Trump says fitting $5,000 in budget would be ‘easy’
President Trump spoke with reporters Sunday, further answering questions about the payments, saying "it's easy if the Republicans win," Trump said. "Five thousand dollars to all adults in the country and we can easily handle that because we're taking in so much money," Trump told reporters when asked if Congress would need to approve the payments, adding that trillions of dollars were coming into the country.
The other side:
Economists say the price tag for such a measure could cost more than $1 trillion, adding pressure to a federal deficit nearing $1.8 trillion and potentially worsening inflation.
Big picture view:
President Trump argues that payments could work because of what he describes as a strong economy, but consumer sentiment remains skeptical due to climbing gasoline prices with the war in Iran and wages struggling to keep pace with inflation.