The proposed payment to all American adults — which some estimated would cost $1.3 trillion — was conditioned on Republicans retaining control of both houses of Congress in the midterms and the money being spent in the U.S.

The White House issued a press release on Thursday that suggests the checks could come from commitments the Trump administration has received from companies to invest in the private sector. It’s unclear how those investments, which have not yet materialized, would be made into dividend checks for Americans.

“The U.S. is still $40 trillion in debt, if your economic policies are working, why do you need an incentive for people to turn out to vote?” ABC News asked the president directly.

Trump rejected the premise that the payment was intended to encourage voter turnout.

“I think what you’re going to do — I didn’t do it for turning out the vote, I did it as a reward for people having to put up with five years-four years of horrible situation caused by Biden,” Trump said.

Read More: Trump defends proposed $5,000 dividend as ‘reward,’ says ‘growth’ will pay for it