Laura Ingraham Presses Trump on Proposed $5,000 Checks in Fox News Interview

A Fox News host pressed Donald Trump on why he is not immediately handing out money to Americans after he pledged that every U.S. adult would receive $5,000 if Republicans keep control of both chambers of Congress in this year’s midterm elections.

Trump unveiled the striking proposal, described as a “Trump dividend,” on Wednesday night while addressing tens of thousands of Republican supporters at the opening evening of the GOP midterm convention.

“If Republicans win both the House and the Senate, because of our tremendous economic success, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States for $5,000,” Trump told the crowd at the Dallas event.

The president offered few specifics about how the plan would work, saying only that the payments would go to American citizens and would have to be spent inside the United States.

He did not explain how the estimated $1.3 trillion in payments would be funded, nor did he say whether he had discussed the proposal with Congress before announcing it. Any sweeping cash distribution of that scale would likely require approval from lawmakers.

“Why not just give the money?” Fox News host Laura Ingraham asked Trump in a preview clip from her exclusive interview with him, which is scheduled to air Thursday evening.

“If you have the money, why not give it now?” she continued.

But the president’s response was about as insightful as his opaque announcement.

The president responded to Ingraham, telling her he would not give the money now ‘because the Democrats can’t do it.’ 

‘Because for them, it’s negative growth. With us, it’s so positive,’ Trump said. 

‘So, we’re taking in $21 trillion. No country has ever taken in anywhere near that. It’s four or five times higher than the next one. All because of the beautiful word you and I love more than most others: tariffs.’

While it’s difficult to discern why the president would not send out payments immediately, it does seem that he plans on funding the initiative with tariff revenue. 

However, the total amount of tariff revenue the US has collected since Trump returned to the White House is dwarfed by the trillion-dollar price tag on the dividend gambit. 

Estimates suggest the US has brought in a few hundred billion dollars because of the duties increased by Trump. 

But after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the tariff program the president implemented in April 2025 was done so improperly, the federal government was told to return the profits. 

Outside of the looming questions about how the proposal will be funded, the announcement also made waves because it upset parts of the Republican base. 

‘For the record, I am hugely in favor of winning the midterms, and love much about this admin, but am strongly against bread and circus bribes,’ Palantir co-founder and GOP donor Joe Lonsdale reacted. 

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas told Politico the initiative would cost ‘a massive amount’ and he would prefer that there be restrictions on who could receive the money. 

‘I don’t know about you all, but frankly I’m insulted by the notion that my vote this November could be bought for 5k,’ Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Trump critic, reacted on X. 

‘Not to mention the inflation this would cause. All things considered, I cannot in good conscience accept a penny less than 10k!’ 

The latest payment promise is just one of many Trump has promised throughout his second term. 

He promised Americans would receive a $5,000 ‘DOGE dividend,’ and a $2,000 ‘tariff dividend.’

‘$5,000 for the peasants will be in the mail after the election only if you vote Republican, along with those DOGE and tariff money checks,’ former congresswoman and ex-Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene posted on X.