The plan would cost about $1.2 trillion; tariffs (taxes on imports) now bring in about $125 billion a year, per Tax Foundation economist Erica York.
Donald Trump promised $5,000 checks Thursday, Sept. 10, up from $1,400 per person in the 2021 rescue-plan round, in a nearly two-hour speech at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. The money would go to adult citizens and must be spent inside the United States.
Congressional Republicans said they had no advance warning, with one calling the idea 'incredibly desperate' and another seeing 'zero chance' of passage. Bernie Moreno (Sen-R Ohio) said he would write a bill paying for it with a 'market access fee' on imports. Election-law experts said the pledge is likely protected campaign rhetoric, not vote-buying.
The COVID comparison
- $837.5 billion: the three COVID stimulus-check rounds combined, according to GAO's payment accounting through December 2021. The proposed $1.2 trillion would exceed that combined check total.
- $4.65 trillion: federal pandemic response and recovery funding overall, covering much more than checks—business support, unemployment benefits, health programmes and aid to governments. This is the broader relief total, not another check round.
- Up to $1,200, $600 and $1,400: the adult payment ceilings in the three COVID rounds; eligibility and dependent rules differed.
GAO: stimulus payments · GAO: overall federal COVID response
Proposed checks exceed the three COVID check rounds combined
Payment totals in billions of dollars. Proposed spending versus payments made; broader pandemic relief is not another check round.
The numbers
| Category | Reported figures |
|---|---|
| COVID checks | $838B |
| Proposed checks | $1,200B |