A day after President Trump unveiled the idea of sending a $5,000 “Trump Dividend” to every American citizen after the midterm elections if Republicans hold the House and Senate, he’s sharing more details about the plan in an exclusive interview with CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink.
Mr. Trump says he doesn’t think Congress would need to approve the payments, which he called “a great infusion” — money he says would have to be spent in the U.S., not other countries.
The president is in North Texas this week, delivering the keynote address Wednesday and closing remarks Thursday night at the first-ever Republican midterm convention being held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
During his speech Wednesday night, he stood by his decision to launch the war with Iran, endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Senate race, and surprised the crowd with the $5,000 dividend proposal. Mr. Trump is sure to face pushback if he attempts to send dividends without approval from Congress. It’s not clear what legal authority the president has for such payments, which could cost upwards of a trillion dollars.
Ahead of his second night at the convention, Mr. Trump was slated to tour the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, where Fink secured a one-on-one interview in hopes of getting some answers on the president’s comments.
Here’s how that conversation unfolded:
Fink: Mr. Trump, last night you proposed “Trump Dividends,” giving every American adult citizen $5,000, and I’m wondering if Congress would need to approve that?
Trump: Well, we think not. I think they will do it if we needed it. But we think not. The country is doing so well, we’ve taken in trillions of dollars in tariffs and other things. We have now over $20 trillion worth of manufacturing plants and other investments being made in the United States, which is far greater than ever before. And we think it’s something that’ll be good. We do have one proviso, and that’s that the money be spent… people spend their money in the United States. We don’t want to have that money spent in other countries. We think it’s something that’s really good, popular and it’s a great infusion.
Fink: Your super PAC MAGA Inc. is spending $10 million on TV ads for Ken Paxton. How much more money are you willing to spend to help Paxton win, and what are your plans to return to Texas to campaign for him?
Trump: I’ll be back in Texas. I love Texas; I’ve won it three times. I have the honor of having the biggest vote in the history of Texas politically. I think all three times it got higher… So I like Texas, and I guess they like me. We’ve done wonders for the oil industry, as you know, we’re doing really well and are very proud of Texas. Ken’s a fantastic guy, probably the best attorney general that we’ve had in years in this country, the whole country. I jokingly said, “I don’t like the way he dresses, I don’t like the way sometimes he talks, but he’s the greatest attorney general in the country.” And he really is, fantastic actually. If it wasn’t for him, we probably wouldn’t have the wall, at least not to the extent that we have it. And so many other things. So, I’ve invested in ads and other things for him because the other side has a lot more money, and it’d be terrible having Talarico… other nicknames we call him, I won’t use that name right now but I used it last night. Having him would be, really be an insult to Texas.
Fink: In 2024, you won most of the Texas counties along the southern border. Republicans want to flip the South Texas congressional district, but the Democrats say they’re feeling pretty good about their chances. And I’m wondering, what is your message to Hispanic voters?
Trump: I think I won every county along the border, and they say that’s the first time that happened since Reconstruction or the Civil War, another way of putting. And I just have a great feeling for Hispanics and they have a great feeling for me and it’s been that way… If you look in Miami, you, at those numbers. If, look at Florida, those numbers. So, I think we’re in very very strong shape in Texas. And again, we had a victory, we won by a lot. I won by a lot. And everybody that was on the ticket came along with me. So, it was good. Now, this time I’m not running, so it’s a big difference when you’re running and not running. I’m just asking the people, you people that are listening, pretend I’m running because we have to win. This is very, very important. … We have the hottest country anywhere in the world and we can’t let it go.
