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"Earned $21-22 trillion thanks to tariffs"... Even Fox News skeptical of 'tariff funding'
"If Republicans lose, impeachment will be pursued... Stuck in political gridlock"
"No regrets about the Iran war"... Reconfirms expectation of war ending immediately after November midterms
U.S. President Donald Trump on the 10th (local time) reiterated his promise to distribute $5,000 (approximately 6.7 million won) to adult U.S. citizens if the Republican Party wins the November midterm elections, citing tariff revenues as the source of funding.
In his speech on the last day of the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, President Trump said, "If we win the midterm elections, we will pay $5,000 to every adult citizen of our country as a 'Trump dividend'," adding, "We can do that because our country has never been better than it is now."
This reconfirmed the surprise pledge he made in his speech on the first day of the convention. In his speech the previous day, President Trump had stated, "If Republicans win both the House and the Senate," and then declared, "I will pay a $5,000 dividend to every adult citizen of America."
As controversy grew over the feasibility of the $5,000 dividend, President Trump had earlier suggested the possibility of using U.S. government tariff revenues as a funding source in a Fox News interview.
When asked by the anchor about the dividend funding, President Trump replied, "We're making $21 trillion. No country has ever made anything close to that amount," adding, "Thanks to that beautiful word, tariffs."
In his subsequent convention speech, President Trump also stated, "$22 trillion is coming into this country. The past record was $3 trillion, recorded by a completely different country (China) many years ago."
The $21-22 trillion repeatedly mentioned by President Trump in interviews and speeches is interpreted not as U.S. government tariff revenue, but as the total amount of investment from other countries to the U.S. that is expected to flow in due to his tariff policies.
Fox News explained that these remarks suggested that if the Republican Party maintains control of Congress by winning the midterm elections, tariff revenue could be part of the funding for this pledge.
The fact that Vice President JD Vance appeared on the same media outlet and stated that the 'Trump dividend' would be covered by tariff revenue also supports this interpretation.
However, even the pro-Trump Fox News, which conducted the interview, expressed skepticism, stating that U.S. tariff revenue, which is around $200 billion annually, "falls far short of the estimated cost of this pledge."
U.S. media outlets analyzed that if the Republican Party wins as per President Trump's pledge, $1.2 trillion (approximately 1,616 trillion won) would be needed to distribute $5,000 to approximately 240 million adult Americans.
In the interview, President Trump also explained another funding method besides tariff revenue, saying, "We're making money. Like TikTok," adding, "We got a fee. I got a fee for our country. $10 billion from Intel."
It was reported that in the process of transferring TikTok's U.S. operations to a U.S. investor-led joint venture, investors paid a total of $10 billion in fees to the U.S. Treasury. The $10 billion received from Intel appears to refer to the value of Intel shares acquired by the U.S. government.
President Trump also said, "I think there's a very good chance that the Republican Party will win (the midterm elections)," but if the Republican Party does not win, a Democratic-led "impeachment investigation" would follow, claiming, "They've been talking about bringing this country to a standstill with political gridlock."
President Trump criticized, "They (Democrats) are radical leftists. They are socialists, but also communists," adding, "All they have are bad policies."
When asked if he regretted the war with Iran, which made the midterm election situation difficult, he replied, "No (regrets)," saying, "I don't believe in the word regret."
He then asserted, "If I had to do it again, I would do exactly the same thing," adding, "I eliminated their nuclear capability."
He then predicted that oil prices, which surged due to the war, would fall immediately after the war ends, saying, "I believe this (war) will end right after the election. Maybe it will end before that, but I think it will end right after."
Meanwhile, President Trump, seemingly conscious of media reports that the convention, which concluded that day, did not meet expectations for excitement, claimed during his speech, "Look there. There are no empty seats, even in the highest top seats," and "There are thousands of people outside (the venue)."
He then added, "Last night, our venue was packed," and "Even the box seats (for VIPs), the box seats where the rich people sit, were packed."
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