His latest promise is a classic in vote-buying political cynicism.

Updated on: Sep 11, 2026, 14:49:54 IST

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President Trump has a special talent for exposing the cynicism of modern politics, and he knows it. A Trumpian classic is his promise Wednesday night of a $5,000 “dividend” for every U.S. adult citizen if Republicans retain control of Congress in November.

“Here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate . . . I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Mr. Trump said at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas.

There are roughly 240 million American adult citizens. Multiply that by $5,000 and you get about $1.2 trillion. The amount is so preposterous that you’d almost think Mr. Trump is trying to show voters the absurdity of such income redistribution. It’s the reductio ad absurdum of welfare state politics.

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We doubt this is what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had in mind when he recently promised a “fiscal consolidation” plan. And we doubt it could pass Congress.

At least we hope not. In the unlikely event Republicans retain control of Congress, they might feel pressure to make good on a slimmer version of Mr. Trump’s pledge. They incorporated some of his 2024 campaign pitches (e.g., no tax on tips) in last year’s tax bill.

Vote buying has a long political history, and Democrats are professionals at the game. They do it by passing programs in the name of some high-toned principle, like income equality or “fairness.” Mr. Trump’s cynical genius is that his political bribery is running naked in the street. Elect my party, get a check.

The caveat is that voters may not buy the offer. In December 2020 he pushed for another round of $2,000 Covid payments, and Democrats used that to pressure Republicans into passing an end-of-year spending bonanza that included $600 checks. Despite the handouts, Republicans lost both Georgia Senate seats in the January 2021 runoff. Democrats in March 2021 passed another round of $1,400 stimulus checks and so much more. That spending spree is how the U.S. got 9.1% inflation, and now $40 trillion in debt.

Mr. Trump is resorting to this because voters are unhappy about inflation and don’t think his economic policies have helped them. His tariff tax increases are a big part of the reason. If he repealed those, he’d give the country an economic dividend without spending a dime.

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