By Nathaniel "Beltway" Steele
DALLAS — President Trump stood before the first Republican midterm convention in party history Wednesday night and made his supporters an offer: vote the GOP back into full control of Congress, and every adult American citizen gets a $5,000 check.
He called it a "Trump Dividend." He said it would have to be spent in the United States. He did not say where the money would come from, how it would be authorized, or when checks might arrive.
NBC News reported the pledge may not be legally or financially possible — Congress, not the president, controls federal spending, and no bill funding such payments exists. The New York Times noted this is not the first time Mr. Trump has floated large cash payments to Americans that never materialized.
The speech, delivered on the party's biggest stage of the cycle, doubled as a closing argument and a spectacle. Mr. Trump urged Republicans to "pretend that I am running," framing November's elections as a referendum on himself even though his name will not appear on any ballot. He also predicted the war with Iran would be "over after the midterms," telling the crowd Tehran was "hanging out for dear life" hoping Republicans lose. He offered no timeline or evidence for that prediction either.
Four Senate candidates in competitive states who addressed the convention steered clear of two issues that have dogged the party — tariffs and the Iran conflict — leaning instead on the president's 2017 tax law, according to the Times.
The convention also drew attention for an unexpected video appearance by Pennsylvania's Democratic Sen. John Fetterman, which NBC News said Democrats in his home state greeted with irritation.
What's confirmed: the president made the promise on camera, in full, before a national television audience. What's unconfirmed: whether it will ever become policy. Voters have three months to decide how much weight to put on the difference.
— Compiled from reporting by The New York Times, NBC News and CBS News.
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