US Vice-President JD Vance has appeared to partially retract President Donald Trump's assertion that every adult citizen in the US would receive $5,000 if Republicans secure control of both the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections.
President Trump made the claim during a nearly two-hour speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas, telling the crowd, "If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000."
However, speaking after the President, Vice-President Vance suggested that these "dividend" payments would not be distributed to the wealthy. He also indicated that the funding could come from US tariff revenues, despite the proposed sum being significantly larger than what the US currently collects through such measures.
Marc Goldwein, senior policy director at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, stated that President Trump lacks the authority to distribute money to Americans without Congressional approval. Goldwein also noted that the US is currently running $2tn annual deficits and has $40tn in debt, making the idea of fiscal success "backwards and bordering on laughable."