Lutnick says Trump dividend would not use tax money

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said President Donald Trump’s proposed $5,000 “dividend” for U.S. adults would not be paid with taxpayer dollars, even as administration officials offered differing explanations for how the costly plan would be funded.

“It’s not tax money,” Lutnick told NBC News in an interview at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. He said the administration could “earn the money that Donald Trump wants to pay out, not from the deficit and not from taxpayers.”

Trump pledged this week that if Republicans keep control of the House and Senate in November’s midterm elections, his administration would send the payments as a reward to Americans. Speaking at a Republican midterm convention rally in Dallas on Wednesday, Trump said the dividends would be issued “because of our tremendous strength and success economically.”

“If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” Trump said, adding that it would be called “the Trump dividend.” The Guardian reported that Trump likened the proposal to a one-time, tax-free $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” approved last year for about 1.45 million U.S. military service members.

“Together we’re going to deliver that plan and we’re going to pay that money to the Americans, and not from taxpayer money,” Lutnick said.

Lutnick pointed to the Trump Platinum Card, a planned Commerce Department program that would allow wealthy individuals to pay $5 million to extend their U.S. visas for an additional 270 days. “We have a waitlist of more than 100,000 people who want to come,” he said. “That’s $500 billion.”

He also cited the administration’s investment in Intel last year. “Everybody knows we got just about 500 million shares, and the stock was $20, and now it’s $100, so we’re up $50 billion,” Lutnick said. The administration used $8.9 billion in appropriated CHIPS Act funds for the investment. NBC News reported that while Intel’s stock had risen from the government’s purchase price of $20.47 to $100.32 as of Thursday, the administration had not sold the shares, meaning the gain remained on paper.

Other officials have described different funding possibilities. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett told Bloomberg Television the White House was considering using a congressional “reconciliation process” to fund the checks. “We can do it in a fiscally responsible way,” Hassett said, according to The Guardian. “The bottom line is there are multiple paths to getting it done – don’t underestimate President Trump.” NBC News reported that initial estimates put the cost of such a plan at about $1.3 trillion, while The Guardian said it could cost as much as $1 trillion if paid to all Americans.

Vice President JD Vance has suggested tariff revenues could cover the payments and that wealthy Americans would not receive them. Trump also suggested the money could come partly from tariffs. But the Supreme Court has ordered revenue from Trump’s 2025 import tariffs returned, and the nonpartisan Tax Foundation has said tariff receipts would not have come close to covering the cost. The Guardian reported that an earlier proposal to return $2,000 to taxpayers from tariff revenue exceeded the revenue raised.

The proposal comes as the national debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time. NBC News reported that the annual budget deficit is nearing $1.8 trillion, its highest level since March 2021. Lutnick said the administration planned to pay down debt by pursuing “waste, fraud and abuse,” though NBC News reported economists widely believe that would not make a significant dent.

Polls show economic concerns remain a political challenge for Republicans. A recent Associated Press poll found 32% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of the economy. An NBC News poll released in April found 52% of Americans strongly disapproved of his handling of inflation and the cost of living.

Lutnick gave the economy an “A-minus” and said it would become an “A-plus” if gas prices fell to $2 a gallon. The average price of regular gas Friday was $4.29, NBC News reported, with prices reaching $10 in parts of California. The August consumer price index rose 0.4% from July, while core inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased more than economists expected.