Trump floats US$5,000 payment to US adults if GOP wins midterms

PRESIDENT Donald Trump promised to give all adult US citizens a US$5,000 dividend if Republicans retain control of both houses of Congress, an extraordinary bid to motivate voters to back his party in November’s midterm elections.

With the GOP at grave risk of losing their congressional majorities, the offer essentially amounted to a financial enticement to Americans, which the president rolled out during a prime-time speech during his midterm convention in Dallas. 

“Because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for US$5,000,” Trump told supporters on Wednesday (Sep 9).

Trump said the offer was conditional on Republicans keeping control of both chambers of Congress. He provided no information on how he would fund such an initiative, which lawmakers would need approve at a time when the nation’s US$40 trillion public debt is already driving up borrowing costs.

The president said he would implement a caveat that it “must be spent in the United States of America,” but again provided no information on how he would enforce that requirement.

The president has previously floated the idea of providing a tariff dividend to consumers, but that effort has not gained traction on Capitol Hill. Any legislation offering direct payments to voters would similarly face a steep pathway to becoming law.

But the offer of a “Trump Dividend” underscored the political peril that Trump is facing ahead of Election Day, and the president’s desperation to avoid it. 

With polls showing Trump’s popularity at record lows and Americans of different political persuasions troubled by his handling of the war in Iran and economy, he needs a jolt of energy to help avert Democrats winning control of one or both chambers of Congress. 

Such a result would stymie his legislative agenda and open him and his administration up to fresh congressional investigations. 

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If Trump was hoping to dispel a sense of foreboding, his trip to Texas on Wednesday got off to a rocky start. 

Before boarding Air Force One to depart the Washington area, an emergency inflatable slide deployed, delaying the president’s departure.

Trump said it was for an inspection; a person familiar with the matter said military personnel accidentally triggered the slide. 

The president also conceded to reporters that efforts to push down gas prices might not bear fruit until after the midterms, a theme he returned to in his speech as he asked voters to keep faith in — and help bolster — his agenda.

“I want you to remember me in four or five years when this country is rocking — remember, I’m the one that got it started,” Trump said.

In his prime time speech, Trump highlighted his accomplishments: securing an overhaul of the tax code, brokering prescription drug price cut deals, and increasing energy production.

It amounted to an attempt to rally his base to turn out in November, albeit with a message that may not be as well received by voters worried about the cost of living and the war.

He also planned to propose making his tax cuts permanent and cutting credit card swipe fees in a bid to address affordability concerns, according to excerpts released by the White House. 

“Your vote will decide whether our country stumbles at the starting gate of our next 250 years or surges forward and never ever looks back,” Trump said from the stage at the American Airlines Centre.

The president has promised to travel extensively in the run-up to the election to help Republican candidates in tight races across the country, and on Wednesday said he expected to make some 35 trips to support the GOP in key races. But he also signaled some of his campaigning might be virtual, and past promises to hit the trail have not always materialised. 

Trump is also directing his political action committee to invest some of the hundreds of millions of dollars it has raised to boost candidates in crucial races, including US$10 million for Ken Paxton, who is running for US Senate in Texas against a much better-funded opponent, Democratic candidate James Talarico.

With less than two months to the election, though, it’s unclear if the convention will deliver the boost Trump is seeking — or how beneficial it will prove to be for lawmakers in tough races.

Trump was poised to use the speech to target prominent Democratic candidates for elected office, painting the party as “radical” and, according to excerpts provided by the White House, planning a litany of personal and political insults. 

It was the latest effort in a push by the president to exploit divisions in the Democratic Party between moderates and progressives, portraying wins by candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America as a sign the party is embracing socialism and communism.

Trump’s prepared remarks included attacks on Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s association with leftist streamer Hasan Piker, North Carolina Senate candidate Roy Cooper’s immigration policies, and Talarico’s comments about transgender Americans.

“He was also somebody that hated eating meat and ran a campaign to ban meat, but was recently seen having a barbecue and eating meat, but what they didn’t show you is that after eating it, he went to the back of a room and started throwing up all over the place,” Trump planned to say according to the prepared remarks.

It’s unclear if those attacks will resonate as voters grapple with the impact of recent trade moves that inflamed tensions within his party, with plans to ease beef imports angering rural-state Republicans and an escalating trade war with Canada frustrating those from northern border states.

And while Trump decided to make his case before a televised audience, he had to compete for attention with the National Football League, whose games are regularly among the top-viewed programs. The league opened its regular season with games on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Tax cuts

Parties that control the White House historically suffer in midterm elections, a dynamic Trump has sought to upend by encouraging voters to pretend he is on the ballot.

But the president has the potential to be both a draw and a drag for Republicans seeking office. According to a recent RealClearPolitics average of polls, some 39.6 per cent of Americans approved of the president’s performance, while 57.1 per cent disapproved. 

Trump ran for office in 2024 in part on a platform to bring down prices and curb immigration. 

His war against Iran and tariff policies, though, have helped stoke inflation, with gasoline and diesel prices at especially painful levels for consumers.

The deaths of two unarmed Americans at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents earlier this year raised concerns about his administration’s overall immigration enforcement push.

Trump has dismissed concerns about affordability as a Democratic “hoax” and the White House has stood by its immigration crackdown.

Democrats, meanwhile, have criticised Trump’s record and promised to provide relief to Americans if they win majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

A shift in control in one or both chambers would put new curbs on Trump and his White House in the last two years of his term and almost certainly prompt multiple probes into his administration and potentially an impeachment attempt.

While Trump is comfortable in a rally setting, his tendency to go off message could distract at a time when he wants to gin up support for his accomplishments and those of his fellow Republicans.

During engagements at the White House, the president regularly touts his efforts to build a new ballroom, helicopter pad and triumphal arch in Washington, sometimes to the chagrin of Republicans who would like to see him focus on prices and Americans’ economic concerns.

“The choice in this election is very, very simple,” Trump said. “Democrats are asking you to vote for their failed far-left agendas, that destroyed your finances and delivered you four years of disaster, bedlam, and death under Sleepy Joe Biden. And I’m asking you to let us finish the job we began with the greatest two years in the history of the presidency.” BLOOMBERG