Trump promises ‘nearly $100’ to seniors 30 days before Election Day

One month ahead of the high-stakes midterm elections, President Donald Trump on Saturday once again offered cash incentives to Americans to vote for Republicans in November.

In a video posted to Truth Social on Saturday morning, Trump repeated his promise of a $5,000 check to each adult U.S. citizen — as long as voters keep his party in control of Congress.

“If the Republicans win, you will each have $5,000 in your pocket and economic success for our country like we have never, ever seen before,” Trump said.

His proposition follows an announcement late on Friday that his administration will send a one-time payment of $90 — “of nearly $100,” he said on Truth Social — to more than 20 million senior citizens to help pay a portion of their Medicare benefits. (The standard Medicare Part B premium costs $202.90 a month.)

The money would come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, Trump said, which he disparaged as “a pointless ‘Slush Fund.’” It was unclear whether the White House would be able to tap the fund for the president’s stated purpose.

Trump is amping up promises of cash payments in exchange for votes just 30 days before Americans go to the polls with much weighing on their minds, including the rising cost of living — from housing, healthcare and fuel prices to higher grocery prices and interest rates. Contrary to the data, Trump has insisted that the U.S. economy is booming under Republican leadership. But polls show that a majority of Americans blame the president’s policies for worsened economic conditions.

His administration this week also began sending $500 checks to nearly a million Americans for what it described as refunds for “excessive fees” resulting from the Biden administration’s handling of the Affordable Care Act. ACA premiums spiked after Republicans in Congress refused to extend enhanced subsidies late last year.

Trump’s explicit caveat of a GOP election win in his $5,000 check offer has drawn backlash. Democrats have labeled it bribery and some Republicans have expressed skepticism. It would also require congressional approval, which is unlikely to happen.

Trump has not been clear about where that money would come from, though he pointed to “massive amounts of money through tariffs and record-setting economic success” in his video Saturday. Vice President JD Vance has also suggested it would come from tariff revenues.

Erica York, a senior economist at the Tax Foundation, has said that Trump’s $5,000 checks would “spend all the revenue that the new tariffs are projected to bring in over a decade.”

Warning that Republicans risk losing in red states where they’ve been forced to campaign, former Republican Rep. Barbara Comstock of Virginia said Saturday on MS NOW’s “The Weekend” that “Trump is the albatross that Republicans have unfortunately tied themselves to.”

She said GOP lawmakers voted for Trump’s tariffs, which have exacerbated cost-of-living issues, supported his war with Iran, which has driven up gas and diesel prices, and voted against extending subsidies for health insurance premiums.

“And all of these things now are causing them problems,” she said. “And you can’t run away from this in the last month of an election.”

The post Trump promises ‘nearly $100’ to seniors 30 days before Election Day appeared first on MS NOW.

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