Trump says at every rally, "$5,000 dividend should be spent in the U.S., not in Korea, China, or Japan."

“It’s what makes America great,” referring to “economic recirculation through domestic consumption.”

(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Yu-mi = While U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to pay a 'dividend of $5,000 per adult' ahead of the midterm elections, he is attracting attention by emphasizing domestic consumption every day, saying that this money should not be used overseas, such as in Korea, China, and Japan.

At a campaign rally in Florida on the 30th of last month (local time), President Trump said that he would pay a dividend of $5,000 (approximately 6.7 million won) if the Republican Party controlled both the Senate and the House of Representatives, saying, "This is something that only the Republican Party can realize."

At the same time, he said, "The Trump dividend" of $5,000 is worth about $1 trillion in total, but the United States has created $25 trillion worth of wealth through tariff policies, etc., adding, "If you think about it, it's not that big of an amount."

However, he emphasized that the only condition for this dividend is that it must be used only within the United States.

President Trump assumed a situation where a couple would receive $5,000 each, for a total of $10,000, and said that they should not say to their spouses, "We have $10,000, so let's go to China and spend it. Let's go to Japan. Let's go to Korea."

He also reiterated that dividends cannot be used abroad, saying, "Let's go to a very romantic place. Let's go to France."

This can be interpreted as the intention to ensure that dividends are consumed within the United States rather than being leaked overseas, leading to a virtuous cycle in the domestic economy.

At a campaign rally in Montana on the 14th, President Trump also said regarding the 'Trump Dividend', "I don't want you to say, 'I have $5,000, so let's go to China and spend it. Let's travel to Japan or Korea. Let's go to South America.'"

“That money has to be spent within the United States,” he explained. “It’s also called ‘recycling’ or ‘recirculating,’ and it can be called many different things. It’s what makes you rich and what makes our country great.”

President Trump first unveiled this dividend payment plan in his keynote speech at the Republican midterm election convention held in Dallas, Texas, last September.

Accordingly, criticism poured in from the Democratic Party that it was a patronizing pledge to win voters' votes, and there were also concerns in the American media that there could be side effects such as a huge burden on financial resources, deepening inflation, and increasing national debt.

However, the prevailing view is that the Republican Party is likely to lose its majority in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections, and it is difficult to guarantee the results of the Senate election, so there is a possibility that the dividend payment plan itself will fall through.