Trump Promises to Pay Voters $5,000 While Pushing Bill to Ban Future Presidents From Opening the Border

President Donald Trump has pledged to issue a $5,000 'dividend' to every adult US citizen if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in November's midterm elections, while also announcing plans to pursue legislation that he said would prevent future presidents from reopening the border.

The twin announcements came during a nearly two-hour address to the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday night, where the president framed the upcoming vote as a referendum on his second term.

The 'Trump Dividend' Pledge and Its Legal Questions

Trump introduced the cash promise roughly an hour into his keynote, telling the crowd at the American Airlines Center, '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.'

He branded it the 'Trump dividend' and added that recipients would have to spend the money in the US, though he offered no details on how that restriction would be enforced.

There are approximately 240 million adult US citizens, according to figures cited by Reuters, meaning the payments could cost about $1.2 trillion before administrative costs.

Current tariff revenues appear insufficient to cover the full cost, meaning additional borrowing or another source of funding could be required. Trump and Vice President JD Vance have pointed to tariff revenue as a possible source, but the proposed payout would far exceed current collections.

The proposal also raises legal and constitutional questions, although legal experts cited by major US news organisations said it would not necessarily constitute illegal vote-buying. Federal law prohibits offering or accepting something of value in exchange for voting or voting in a particular way.

Because Trump's proposal, as described, would provide the payment to eligible adults regardless of how they voted, some legal experts said it may not fall within the federal prohibition on vote-buying.

The more immediate obstacle is congressional authority. The president does not appear to have unilateral authority to spend roughly $1.2 trillion on such payments, meaning Congress would likely have to approve the programme.

In a follow-up interview, Trump said he did not think Congress would need to approve the payments, although he acknowledged that Congress would act if necessary.

Democrats have dismissed the pledge as an 'empty promise', while some fiscally conservative Republicans have raised concerns about the cost of the proposal.

'No Invasion of Our Country Act' and the Border Push

The president's border proposal arrived as part of a broader immigration message that has defined much of his second term.

Titled the 'No Invasion of Our Country Act', the proposed legislation is intended to make it 'legally impossible for any future president to destroy our country by having the right to open the border again', Trump said. He provided few specifics on the bill's text or timing.

Under Trump's leadership, the Department of Homeland Security reported in August that 15 consecutive months had passed with no migrant releases into the country, according to DHS and Customs and Border Protection.

That did not mean that no migrants were encountered at the border. Border Patrol continued to record apprehensions, albeit at historically low levels. Federal data and independent fact-checking show that apprehensions have fallen sharply since Trump returned to office.

Trump used the speech to lambast his predecessor, Joe Biden, claiming, 'Democrats gave us the worst and most dangerous border in American history, with 25 million illegal aliens pouring in.'

Trump's claim that '25 million illegal aliens' entered the country under Biden is vastly inflated. Federal data recorded fewer than 11 million encounters with migrants at US borders during Biden's presidency, and encounters are not equivalent to unique people entering the country. Some migrants were expelled or removed, while others were encountered more than once.

Earlier Immigration Measures in Trump's Second Term

The immigration push builds on earlier moves in Trump's second term. His first signed law, the Laken Riley Act, requires federal authorities to detain certain non-US nationals who are arrested, charged, convicted or admit to specified crimes, including certain burglary, theft and larceny offences, as well as assaulting law-enforcement officers and crimes causing death or serious bodily injury.

The law was named for Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student whose killing by a Venezuelan national who had entered the US illegally became a major political issue during the 2024 election campaign.

Congressional Republicans also passed tens of billions of dollars in funding through budget reconciliation legislation in 2025, including the 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' (Public Law 119-21), which provided significant funding for border wall construction and immigration enforcement.

It remains unclear whether the new border bill could be taken up before the midterms. Several major Republican measures, including the Voter ID Act (H.R. 9368), remain in the congressional process rather than having cleared both chambers. The Voter ID Act was reported by the House Committee on House Administration in July.

Congress has not enacted a sweeping, comprehensive overhaul of the US immigration system since the 1990s, a fact that underscores the uphill battle any such proposal faces.

Nothing is confirmed yet on the mechanics of either the dividend or the border bill, so both proposals remain subject to congressional action and further details.