President Donald Trump threw his support behind the idea of a” DOGE dividend“, a check that could be mailed out to 80 million households next summer under X CEO Elon Musk’s cost-cutting program.
” There’s even under consideration a new concept where we give 20 % of the DOGE savings to American citizens, and 20 % goes to paying down debt, because the numbers are incredible”, Trump said Wednesday at a Miami conference backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. ” But countless billions of dollars ]are being saved]. Billion. Hundreds of billions”.
The plan is based on Musk’s Department of Government Performance, or DOGE. Checks would go out just to families that pay federal income tax and would be 20 % of whatever reduces DOGE makes before it wraps up its job in July 2026.
Musk previously said he would check in with the leader about the concept, and Trump added in the new blemish of an extra 20 % going to pay down the federal loan during his remarks.
” If you look at benefit, if]the federal loan ] were a real estate balance sheet, the loan is small, but we still want to give it down”, Trump said. ” We don’t look at it as a piece of real estate. It’s America. We’re going to find it down through knowledge, hard work, and, as Elon said, we’re caring. You have to treatment”.
The checks could reach$ 5, 000 per household if Musk achieves his goal of cutting$ 2 trillion in federal spending, though most budget experts say that scenario is unlikely. Opponents say the fact that assessments are confined to homes paying federal income tax will be an opportunity for more people to enter the workplace.
Trump also said the 20 % plan will be an opportunity for individuals to self-report anything that could be considered useless spending.
” Americans will show us where there is waste”, he said. ” They will be reporting it themselves. They participate in the process of saving cash. So many of the men and women in this area, as an example, they pay huge amounts of income”.
DOGE has sent ripples through Washington, D. C., during Trump’s second month in office, cutting what it says are billions of dollars in state contracts and laying off staff at various governmental agencies. Leaders are being tight-lipped about exactly how many jobs have been cut, but enraged Democrats and national staff unions are staging standard protests outside of different agencies.
Azoria Partners CEO James Fishback second floated the plan on Tuesday, issuing a four-page , letter , with information that may include stimulus-style balances.
Fishback pitches the plan as a compensation check rather than a signal since the funds would only be a percentage of spending reductions found by Musk and DOGE. At least 1, 127 government contracts have been canceled so far, DOGE claims, saving$ 55 billion to date.
During the Miami speech, Musk got a standing ovation from the crowd while Trump joked that “he’s been making a little news lately”. The president added,” He’s got his faults also, I’ll tell you that”.
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Trump further backed the idea of a dividend while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One.
” I love it”, he said. ” A 20 % dividend, so to speak, for the money that we’re saving by going after the waste, fraud, and abuse and all of the other things that are happening. I think it’s a great idea”.
