Trump’s Dubious Midterm Pitch: Keep Us in Power and Everyone Gets Cash

THE NEW YORK TIMES: In his convention speech, the president floated a $5,000 “Trump Dividend” for every adult American if Republicans keep control of Congress. The idea, like many others, may not come to pass.

Screenshot taken from this NYT article. | President Trump has repeatedly dangled sizable payments to Americans that have not materialized. Credit: Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times
President Trump took the stage at his convention on Wednesday and spoke for nearly two hours about the need for midterm voters to imagine that it was him, not other Republicans, up for election this fall.

“Pretend I’m on the ballot,” he urged. “I’m on the ballot. Just one more time.”

Facing dwindling weeks until the midterms, deepening unpopularity and darkening political prospects for his party, Mr. Trump interrupted his usual fare by tossing out a new idea: a $5,000 check for every American adult if Republicans keep control of Congress in November.

“If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them,” Mr. Trump said, “I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.”

It is not unheard-of for politicians to tie the possibility of an economic stimulus to an election’s outcome. In 2020, Democrats in Georgia pointed to $2,000 coronavirus relief checks if their party took control of the Senate. » | Katie Rogers | Katie Rogers is a White House correspondent and reported from the Republican convention in Dallas. | Thursday, September 10, 2026