Trump Says He Doesn't Think Congress Needs to Approve His Proposed $5,000 Dividend Payments

President Donald Trump has said he does not believe Congress would need to approve his proposed $5,000 "Trump Dividend" payments to American citizens, a plan he unveiled a day earlier at the first-ever Republican midterm convention in Dallas .

The Proposal
Speaking in an exclusive interview with CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink, Trump confirmed that every American adult citizen would receive $5,000 under the plan, contingent on Republicans holding both the House and Senate after the midterm elections .

Asked directly whether Congress would need to sign off on the payments, the President responded that he thought not, though he suggested lawmakers would act "if we needed it". He pointed to the country's economic performance as justification, citing trillions of dollars taken in through tariffs and more than $20 trillion in manufacturing plants and other investments now underway in the United States.

Trump attached one condition to the plan: that recipients spend the money domestically rather than abroad, describing the payments as "a great infusion" for the economy .

Legal and Fiscal Questions Remain
The proposal is likely to face pushback if Trump attempts to distribute the payments without congressional approval, and it remains unclear what legal authority the President would rely on to do so. Independent estimates suggest the plan could cost upwards of a trillion dollars .

Context: A Historic Convention
Trump made the original dividend announcement during his keynote address at the Republican National Committee's first-ever midterm convention, held at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. During that same speech, he defended his decision to launch military action against Iran and endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state's Senate race.

He was in North Texas for two days, delivering the keynote Wednesday night and closing remarks Thursday, with the CBS interview conducted ahead of a scheduled tour of the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington.

On the Texas Senate Race
Asked about his political action committee's spending on Paxton's campaign MAGA Inc. has committed $10 million to television advertising Trump confirmed he plans to return to Texas to campaign further, calling Paxton "probably the best attorney general" the country has had in years and crediting him with helping secure funding for the border wall.

He was sharply critical of Paxton's Democratic opponent, Congressman James Talarico, without directly naming him in that portion of the exchange.

On Hispanic Voters and the Border
On the question of Hispanic voter outreach, Trump pointed to his 2024 performance along the Texas-Mexico border, claiming he won every county there a result he said had not occurred since Reconstruction and cited similarly strong numbers in Florida as evidence of durable support among Hispanic voters heading into the midterms .

This report is based on an exclusive interview conducted by CBS News Texas political reporter Jack Fink, published September 10, 2026. Direct quotations are limited and attributed to that original reporting; readers seeking the full transcript and video are encouraged to consult the original CBS News Texas article linked below.

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Source:
CBS News Texas "President Trump says he doesn't think $5,000 dividend payments would need to be approved by Congress," by Briauna Brown and Jack Fink, September 10, 2026: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/president-donald-trump-dallas-texas-republican-midterm-convention-interview/