President Donald Trump has been accused of bribery and vote buying online after he offered $5000 dividend checks to American adults if Republicans won the midterms. Trump was speaking at the RNC convention at Dallas, Texas, when he made these remarks.
Trump’s Proposal for Direct Payments
“I will give $5,000 to every adult if we win,” stated former President Donald Trump during a recent speech. This promise has gained significant attention online, as it was widely shared across various platforms.
The primary legal threat is 18 U.S.C. § 600, which criminalizes promising government benefits made possible by Congress as a reward for supporting a political party. Tying the money to GOP control fits § 600 far more closely than a standard tax-cut pledge. Vote-buying statutes like 18 U.S.C. § 597 and 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c) also apply. Trump said the $5,000 payment would be called the ‘Trump dividend’. As per Bloomberg, this would cost the US government well in excess of $1 trillion. “Trump’s $5,000 dividend would cost $1.3 trillion. Earlier reporting noted: Trump spoke for over 90 minutes at the RNC convention. CNN’s Alejandra Jaramillo reported that President Donald Trump’s speech was about 107 minutes. Earlier reporting noted: The president is known for lengthy speeches and his longest has been at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in 2019, where he spoke for about 122 minutes. In the 2026 State of the Union address, Trump spoke for about 108 minutes and in 2025, during the joint address to Congress, Trump spoke for 99 minutes approximately.
One person further explained “A sitting US president publicly promised tonight every adult a $5,000 “Trump dividend” if Republicans win full control of Congress, running directly into severe legal and structural barriers. “Now all we have to do is win,” he added. The money, Trump said, would need to be spent in the US, though the president didn’t go into details about how that would be enforced. People are saying Trump is trying to bribe voters,” Bret Baier said and the video is now going viral online.
“While defenders would argue this is a policy platform rather than a bribe, the explicit transaction creates real legal risk. Regardless of criminal law, the president lacks the constitutional authority to issue payments unilaterally. Under the Appropriations Clause and the Anti-Deficiency Act, spending over a trillion dollars requires explicit congressional funding and cannot occur by executive order. The Hatch Act largely exempts the president, though staff involvement would trigger criminal scrutiny. The statement conflicts with the spirit of federal vote-buying laws,” they added. Trump however, did not describe how the payments would be issued, or funded. Any cash payments would have to be approved by Congress. The announcement comes at a time when the significant US deficit is already weighing on borrowing costs. Even Fox News questioned Vice President JD Vance about Trump’s promise. Critics say ‘slurring heavily’ President Donald Trump spoke for about two hours at the RNC convention in Dallas, Texas , ahead of the midterm elections. His speech included potshots at political opponents including former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.
Earlier reporting noted: Donald Trump RNC convention speech length: How long did POTUS talk ahead of midterms?
Yet another criticized the president, saying “That’s $2 trillion of taxpayers’ money in freebies – the Venezuela model.
Another remarked “lol. trump openly bribing people to vote for republicans. $5k per person if republicans hold the house and the senate?”. In a real democracy, this is vote-buying, and he would be banned from contesting.”
