If you think Donald Trump is really going to write you a $5,000 check for electing Republicans to the Congress this November, you aren’t paying attention to Trump’s long history of reneging on promises to pay people who do work for him. John Tsitrian says you’re also ignoring Trump’s history of broken policy payoffs:
More to the civilized point is the fact that Trump has already promised dividends that he has yet to pay out. The guy’s a welsher.
- Tariff dividends that he promised last year have yet to be paid.
- DOGE dividends from cash saved by the budget cutting frenzy early on in his administration haven’t materialized.
- Dividends are supposed to accrue from expiring ACA subsidies. Though still in its larval stage, I’m dubious about this promise, considering his track record [John Tsitrian, “Trump’s $1.2 Trillion Election Dividend Is Desperate and Dangerous,” South Dakota Standard, 2026.09.11].
Breaking this promise still wouldn’t be as bad as keeping it:
The fiscal damage that the payout would cause is hard to overstate. I haven’t found a supportive economist to weigh in on this looney-tunes proposal. All I’ve found are harsh critiques.
Those critiques focus on the fiscal madness of further increasing our national debt and the inflation that would result from $1.2 trillion that would suddenly be injected into our economy.
Trump’s promise isn’t just dangerous demagoguery. It’s irrational and illusional [Tsitrian, 2026.09.11].
To flesh out Tsitrian’s debt point, if Trump ever did pay up, taxpayers would end up owing 60% more than they got from the election bribe:
Bond markets surely realize what Trump does not, which is that sending $5,000 to every adult citizen will likely end up costing the U.S. taxpayers far more than $5,000 per person, given the U.S. government will have to fund these payments by issuing new debt at currently elevated interest rates. Consider the back of the envelope math.
If there are roughly 245 million adult citizens, each of whom will receive $5,000 – then the U.S. government will have to issue $1.2 trillion of debt to fund those payments. If the government issues 10-year bonds at the current interest rate of 4.92%, then over 10 years, the interest plus principal will come out to approximately $8,000 – far more than $5,000 a person. Thus, not only does the “Trump Dividend” substantively amount to a payday loan in which the taxpayer is both borrower and lender; but the U.S. is plainly getting a raw deal [Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian, “Trump’s $5,000 Pledge and the Bond Market Revolt Show It’s a Voter Bribe—Costing Every American $8,000,” Fortune via Yahoo, 2026.09.10].
But we shouldn’t even have to reach the practical fiscal discussion to look at Trump’s blatant bribe and say “Oh my goodness no! Never!” A person who thinks he can buy your vote doesn’t deserve your vote. Save the country from more empty promises and reckless policy: take back Congress by voting for anyone but the Republicans Trump says he’d pay you to elect.
Why does it seem that rational discussion about deficit/debt implications only happen when the receivers of government funds are under the 1% wealth bracket?
He does it with everyone. Just ask all the welfare farmers and ranchers.
What? Mad King Donnie lies?
I’m clutching my pearls…
He wants it talked up so that he remains in the spot light. Newscasters are falling for it.
Even more concerning is all of his disciples in the crowd taking his deranged oath with him.
Please, AI, escape the data centers and take over the country.
I’d much rather have a raise that’s more than 25 cents an hour.
Just a promise is good enough to keep the MAGA minions in line for a few more weeks. Promise, promise, promise to the mid-terms.
Dennis is 100% correct: it keeps the distractable press running positive stories.
One of the bad things a parent can do is promise a child something and never give it to them. It’s a sure setup for psychosis in later life.
No wonder the President’s kids are so strange.
I’m inclined to believe this is something the press shouldn’t ignore. Opposing candidates shouldn’t either. Rhoden and Rounds should have to directly state whether they’re in support of this or not. Stop letting Trump and his minions worm their way out of being held accountable. Too often things are either ignored, or when asked about, aren’t given repeated follow-ups until they’ve been pinned down. It’s like watching an inexperienced chess player fail to give checkmate.
Ben, this is on face the most corrupt action of election tampering, but as the Supreme Court has ruled that Trump is above the law as long as he is president, what accountability is there to hold him to?
The only accountability is the voters taking the House and Senate from under his thumb.
O, as I mentioned, it’s not so much about holding Trump accountable as it is those running in the midterms. But yes, the press should do better when interviewing and asking Trump (or any administration official) questions. Republicans in general tied themselves to Trump and shouldn’t be allowed to pretend they’re not whenever it suits them.
For as easily as we can see that the $5000 is transparent political fraud, there are some who are desperate who will cling to that hope. Think of a Trump voter whose broken down pickup is held together by MAGA stickers and flag decals, barely scraping by. He may think $5000 is a stretch but nobody else has promised it. $5000 would be such a miracle windfall that what the hell, he’ll vote for Trump again…
We’ve got to get that Trump voter to understand that, even if Trump did surprise us all and follow through with his promise, that $5K bribe will get eaten up fast by the higher prices for the spare parts that voter needs to get his truck running again, thanks to the destructive trade war Trump is waging. What’s more important: owning the libs or owning your own operable pickup truck and home without going broke?