White House downplays concerns over Trump’s $5,000 checks proposal

President Trump wants to send $5,000 checks to every adult American. The White House insists this won’t make the country’s debt problem any worse. Economists would like a word. The proposal, which Trump unveiled on September 10, brands the payments as a “Trump Dividend,” framing them as the economic equivalent of a corporation rewarding its shareholders. The catch: recipients only get paid if Republicans hold both chambers of Congress after the November midterms. The price tag problem The estimated cost of mailing those checks lands somewhere between $1.2 trillion and $1.3 trillion. For context, the federal deficit is already projected to hit $1.8 trillion to $2 trillion annually. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett went on Bloomberg TV to calm nerves. He characterized the initiative as “serious” and argued it could be executed in a fiscally responsible manner, possibly through a congressional reconciliation bill. That legislative tool would let Republicans push the plan through with a simple majority, sidestepping the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate. Hassett also floated tariff revenues and other offsets as potential funding mechanisms. The prob...