Trump Proposes $5,000 'Trump Dividend' Amid Republican Electoral Struggles

Donald Trump’s latest desperate act has even Republicans scratching their heads.

As he cajoled voters from the Dallas stage Wednesday evening, the president’s message turned to a surprise topic: A $5,000 payout he said would go to every adult American — if Republicans keep their majorities in both chambers of Congress this fall.

Asked about it on Thursday, John Thune, the Republican Senate leader, told Fox News that the chamber would “cross that bridge when we come to it,” and declined to get directly on board in an interview Thursday morning. He quickly pivoted to claiming that the president’s core message was aimed at letting Americans keep more of their money from taxes, which he said all Republicans supported.

But the White House put out a fact sheet on the plan Thursday afternoon cutting through such Thune-like equivocation.“America is winning again — and the American people should share in that success. Like a successful company returning cash to its shareholders, the Trump Dividend is possible only because of President Trump. In his second term, he has unleashed trillions in new private investment, launched an unprecedented crackdown on government waste, and rebuilt American strength at home. That success belongs to the American people — and the Trump Dividend returns it to them.”

The proposal seems to have dropped with a resounding thud on Capitol Hill — especially given the prevailing polling numbers for Republicans. For one thing, the Hail Mary by Trump is rooted in his being deeply unpopular, with Republicans across the country, especially in purple districts, paying the price.

An Economist/YouGov poll showed that 61 percent of voters do not approve of the president’s job performance. He is underwater among key parts of his coalition, too, since 55 percent of men disapprove, and 57 percent of white people, 62 percent of Hispanic voters 57 percent of voters without college degrees also do not approve of his performance.

Democrats, meanwhile, have a seven-point lead in polling on a generic ballot.

Meanwhile, in Maine, Sen. Susan Collins trails Troy Jackson by three points in a CNN/SRSS poll taken last week. Collins has long won over Democratic voters in New England because of her independent brand. But Jackson has attempted to tie Collins closely to Trump and his ads prominently feature photos of her next to the president. Collins for her part has criticized the president’s tariffs toward Canada, which shares a border with her state. But it’s not clear whether her independent brand will be enough.

Republicans also hoped that they could minimize losses by flipping Michigan’s open Senate seat. Their nominee Mike Rogers spoke on the second night in Dallas. Republicans have attempted to tie the Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed to social media personality Hasan Piker, who once said “America deserved 9/11.”

But the latest poll from conservative outlet Trafalgar has Abdul El-Sayed up a point over Rogers. El-Sayed has hammered Rogers for Trump’s attempts to punish the Great White North and for not wanting to debate him.

“Dude goes all the way to Dallas, because Daddy Trump told him to do it, but we got a debate next week, but guess what? He’s not gonna show up,” El-Sayed said at an event on Friday.

Indeed, Trump’s desperation to avoid losses of both the House and Senate were on full display the past week as he meandered through a nearly two-hour keynote speech. He particularly the president implored Texans to save the GOP’s hold on the state’s Senate seat. This came despite his endorsing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a scandal-ridden candidate who lacks charisma, over the incumbent John Cornyn.

His “praise” for Paxton came in true Trump style, ripping apart the attorney general for his fashion sense, appearance and manner of speaking.

“He may not dress right. He may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best looking guy I've ever seen. But you know what he is? He’s the greatest attorney general in America!” Trump told his laughing crowd. Paxton is running against Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico. Republicans seek to portray Talarico as an extremist, with the president calling him “Talafreako.”

But Paxton is in trouble. He’s four points behind Talarico in an AARP survey conducted by Trump’s own pollster, Tony Fabrizio, out this week.

“Texas is the tell. The first midterm convention in Republican history, and they put it in Dallas — not Ohio, not Pennsylvania. Parties don't spend unprecedented capital defending safe ground. Whatever the spin, the venue is a confession: Texas is in play,” former Austin mayor Steve Adler, a Democrat, said on Thursday.

He added: “The convention functioned as a rescue operation for Ken Paxton. Trump's team just dropped $10 million against Talarico, who holds a narrow polling lead and is winning independents, Hispanic voters, women, and young voters.

Meanwhile Talarico spent convention week outside the hall talking housing, healthcare, and the economy across North Texas. I've watched Texas Democrats chase this for thirty years; the difference this time is a candidate answering fear with an affordability agenda.

“Republicans betting a first-in-history mid term convention on stopping him tells you they see it too.”

The $5,000 “bribe” could serve as one of, if not the final, Hail Mary by Trump and his allies as they face down the likely November bloodbath. With the president’s admission this week that the war will likely not end before voters hit the polls and Congress still out of session, the White House has very little left in the tank to catch a bit of momentum before election day.

-Eric Garcia contributed reporting