“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. “So many billions of dollars [are being saved]. Billions. Hundreds of billions.”

The proposal is based on Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. Checks would go out only to households that pay federal income tax and would be 20% of whatever cuts DOGE makes before it wraps up its work in July 2026.

Musk previously said he would check in with the president about the idea, and Trump added in the new wrinkle of an additional 20% going to pay down the national debt during his remarks.

“If you look at value, if [the national debt] were a real estate balance sheet, the debt is tiny, but we still want to pay it down,” Trump said. “We don’t look at it as a piece of real estate. It’s America. We’re going to get it down through intelligence, hard work, and, as Elon said, we’re caring. You have to care.”

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. Proponents say the fact that checks are limited to households paying federal income tax will be an incentive for more people to enter the workforce.

Trump also said the 20% idea will be an incentive for people to self-report anything that could be considered wasteful spending.

“Americans will tell us where there is waste,” he said. “They will be reporting it themselves. They participate in the process of saving money. So many of the men and women in this room, as an example, they pay tremendous amounts of taxes.”

DOGE has sent shockwaves through Washington, D.C., during Trump’s first month in office, cutting what it says are billions of dollars in government contracts and laying off employees at multiple federal agencies. Officials are being tight-lipped about exactly how many jobs have been cut, but outraged Democrats and federal employee unions are staging regular protests outside of various agencies.

Azoria Partners CEO James Fishback first floated the proposal on Tuesday, issuing a four-page letter with details that could include stimulus-style checks.

Fishback pitches the idea as a refund check rather than a stimulus since the money would only be a portion of spending cuts 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.”

Trump says federal government should ‘take over’ DC

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.”