Nationwide — President Trump criticized reparations for descendants of enslaved Americans during a Sept. 9 speech in Dallas, Texas, arguing that the country cannot afford the payments while promoting his own proposal to give American adults $5,000. He also accused people seeking reparations of wanting to punish Americans today for slavery that happened generations ago, saying they “hate our country.”
Trump made the comments at the Republican Midterm Convention as he spoke about his plans if Republicans keep control of Congress. According to EURWeb, he described reparations as an attempt to take money from Americans for crimes they did not commit. He then compared the cost of reparations with his proposed $5,000 payment. “And our country doesn’t have that kind of money,” he said about reparations. “They have the money for $5,000, but they don’t have that kind of money. And give it to the people that hate our country.”
He repeated that message moments later, saying, “The people that hate our country are asking for it.” His remarks have drawn attention because reparations have received significant support among Black Americans. A 2022 Pew Research Center survey found that 77% of Black adults believed descendants of people enslaved in the United States should receive some form of repayment. Only 30% of U.S. adults overall agreed. Trump did not mention that survey during his speech, however, and he did not say that 77% of Black Americans hate the country. His statement specifically referred to people seeking reparations.
His comments also put a spotlight on the cost of his proposed $5,000 payment. During the same convention, Trump promised a “Trump Dividend” for every adult American citizen if Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate in November. Reuters estimated that the proposal could cost about $1.2 trillion, with hundreds of billions of dollars in additional interest costs potentially adding to the total. Congress would have to approve the spending, and Trump has not provided a detailed plan for how the government would fund the payments.
Vice President JD Vance later suggested that wealthier Americans might not qualify for the checks. He also said tariff revenue could help fund the payments. Reparations, meanwhile, are not limited to direct cash payments. Efforts across the country have included proposals involving property loss, housing discrimination, education, economic opportunity, and other effects tied to slavery and later discriminatory policies. California also created the Bureau for Descendants of American Slavery in 2025 as part of its work on reparative policies.
The reparations debate continues at the federal, state, and local levels. Trump’s Dallas speech placed his proposed $5,000 payments against those efforts, with him arguing that the country cannot afford reparations while backing a plan that could cost more than $1 trillion. His description of reparations supporters as people who “hate our country” has also become a central part of his argument against such payments.