Trump promised to pay US citizens $5000 if Republicans win the midterm elections.

The president promised Americans payments that would cost the US more than $1 trillion if the Republicans win the midterm elections. He is thus attempting to boost his party's popularity, which is currently extremely low, writes The Guardian.

Donald Trump promised to pay every adult US citizen $5000 if Republicans retain control of the House of Representatives and the Senate following the midterm elections. The president made the announcement during a nearly two-hour speech at the Republican National Convention in Dallas ahead of the midterm elections. Trump called Democrats "radicals" and defended his unpopular war with Iran.

The extravagant proposal, which would cost more than $1 trillion, immediately raised ethical questions. At the same time, it clearly demonstrated how concerned Republicans are about their prospects in the key November elections.

On the subject: Republicans face historic defeat in the November elections, with their approval ratings at record lows.

"If the Republicans win, you win with us and get $5000 each," Trump told the rapturous crowd. His speech lasted nearly two hours. During it, he urged voters to "pretend you're running." However, due to the president's historically low popularity, many Republican politicians facing votes in competitive districts chose not to attend the convention at all.

Surrounded by supporters holding American flag signs, Trump claimed without evidence that the first two years of his second term had been "the most successful two years, financially and otherwise, in the history of any presidency."

He spent a significant portion of his speech intimidating voters about the possible consequences of a Democratic victory in the House or Senate elections in the last two years of his term.

"There's a crazy, sick little cloud hanging over our country," Trump remarked. "We will defeat communism in America."

The president and Republicans are hoping that holding the convention before the midterm elections—the first such event in the Republican Party's history—will help bolster the party, which is projected to lose control of the House of Representatives. However, Trump's extremely low popularity among Americans (his approval rating is hovering around 38%) has led many Republican candidates running in competitive elections to skip the two-day convention entirely.

Nevertheless, Trump's speech made it clear that the president sees himself as the primary factor determining the outcome of the November elections. Noting that the party that controls the White House traditionally faces difficulties in midterm elections, Trump said, "We need to change that, because we have something very good happening right now."

"If we lose, you lose your border, you lose your tax breaks, you lose your safety and security, you lose your wealth. Our country is going through hell—and we will go through hell again, just like we did just two years ago," he assured.

Incidentally, this isn't the first time Trump has promised to pay Americans for supporting his policies. He already promised to pay $2000 in "tariff revenue"—on November 9th of last year, he wrote in Truth Social: "A dividend of at least $2000 per person (excluding high-income earners!) will be paid to everyone." He explained this by saying that the US allegedly collects "trillions of dollars" from tariffs, and some of this money could be distributed to citizens as a "dividend," while the rest could be used to pay down the national debt. The following day, November 10th, he repeated this at the White House.

Trump later gave various deadlines—sometimes mid-2026, sometimes even the end of 2026. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent clarified at the time that he was most likely referring to families with incomes below approximately $100,000, but emphasized that this would require congressional legislation. The administration repeatedly stated that the proposal would be submitted to Congress, but it never reached any actual consideration. Furthermore, the tariffs collected turned out to be insufficient: actual revenue was in the range of $200–300 billion per year, while issuing $2000 "dividends" even to those with middle and low incomes would have cost $300–600 billion. Furthermore, the Supreme Court later ruled a significant portion of Trump's tariffs illegal, forcing the government to refund tens and hundreds of billions of dollars to importing companies. As a result, the payments have still not been made. Trump himself, in a January 2026 interview with the New York Times, even initially asked, "When did I promise this?" However, he later assured that he would probably do this by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, preparations for the convention before the midterm elections were proceeding rather chaotically. Trump was initially scheduled to speak on the second night of the convention, but the Republican National Committee then announced that the president would deliver the keynote address on September 9 and a closing address on September 10, following a speech by his Vice President, J.D. Vance.

Trump repeatedly mentioned war with Iran, urging Tehran "not to be clever," otherwise the US "will have to hit them very hard." At the same time, he also appeared to acknowledge the economic problems caused by the sharp rise in oil prices. Trump recounted a conversation he had with economic advisers, explaining to them that the US needed to initiate a conflict because Iran was "two, maybe three weeks away from having a nuclear weapon."

At the convention center, it was noticeable that the rank-and-file attendees were only lukewarm. Compared to the traditional four-day convention held in Milwaukee two years ago, the first day of this year's event felt rather sluggish. There were no long lines at the entrance or endless waits for food or restroom access. During Trump's speech, large swathes of empty seats were visible throughout the arena.

Only Trump failed to notice: he mistakenly claimed the arena was full.

"Not only is it full, but there are just as many people standing outside," Trump said confidently. Guardian reporters did not observe this.

In mid-August, the Republican National Committee announced that Americans could apply for tickets to the convention. The announcement indicated that applicants would participate in a lottery, and only a lucky few would be able to attend. However, on September 9, with the convention already underway, ticket applications began being instantly approved on the Republican National Committee's registration page.

Trump himself, on the contrary, appeared energetic on the first evening and actively called on his supporters to take action.

In a statement, Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin accused Republicans of staging a "bizarre circus act with trained animals" to stroke the president's "fragile ego."

"Tonight only confirmed that the president is a loser at the end of his term, leading his party to defeat," Martin emphasized.

The Republican National Convention, an unusual event ahead of the midterm elections, included 12 hours of programming over two evenings. Speakers on September 9 included Trump supporters and party candidates, but the show still dominated the program.

Byron Donalds, a rising Republican Party star running for Florida governor, along with Mehmet Oz and Scott Bessent, two department heads in the Trump administration, took the stage. However, the president, a UFC fan, chose two fighters to represent him: middleweight Bo Nickal and lightweight Justin "The Highlight" Gaethje.

Most of the speakers were given only five minutes. Nickal and Gaethje, who competed at UFC 250 on the White House lawn in June, each received 10 minutes.

Gaethje told the crowd that he earned the nickname "The Highlight" after he quickly knocked out his first opponent in 2016 and then linked his career with the 80-year-old Trump.

"One of the mistakes I've made in my career was getting complacent during a winning streak and forgetting how cutthroat my sport can be," Gaethje admitted. "If we don't vote and fight for victory in these midterms with the same passion we had in the last presidential race, we risk being knocked out and losing all the momentum we've been fighting for."

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Republicans previously stated that the main themes of the convention would be "cutting spending, strengthening the border, making our communities safer, and prioritizing American workers and families." However, speaker after speaker instead attacked Democrats for their alleged support of transgender rights. This, in particular, indicates that the Republican Party intends to make culture wars a major issue as November approaches.

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