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US President Donald Trump says he would offer every adult American a $5,000 (\u00a33,700) payout if Republicans win both chambers of Congress in November’s midterm elections \u2013 a plan that would cost more than a trillion dollars.<\/p>\n
The offer was made in a speech at the party’s first-ever convention in the middle of a US presidential term.<\/p>\n
He gave no details on how it would work or be funded \u2013 saying only that the money would have to be spent in the US. Vice-President JD Vance has linked the plan to the revenue that Trump has raised from US tariffs on imported goods.<\/p>\n
Democrats labelled it an “empty promise” and others questioned whether such a pledge was legal or feasible.<\/p>\n
It may be the first time a US president offered such a payout to Americans, in the context of an election year plea to get out and vote.<\/p>\n
The idea drew raucous applause at the convention and Trump seemed to relish the moment.<\/p>\n
There are nearly 270 million American adults, meaning a $5,000 payout would cost the US government some $1.3 trillion.<\/p>\n
Questions have begun to be raised about whether his plan is feasible \u2013 especially as prices rise in the US, partially as a result of the war that the US and Israel started with Iran in February.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Iran’s retaliation has included attacks against US bases and allies in the Gulf \u2013 but crucially it has largely closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas used to transit.<\/p>\n
The blockage has caused fluctuations in oil prices worldwide and Trump has faced pressure from his party to end the war.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the US president warned his supporters that the war would not end until after the midterms and that oil prices would not come down until then.<\/p>\n
He made the comments ahead of his speech in Texas, repeating it at the convention where he argued that short-term economic pain was worth it to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n