Trump jokes $5,000 payment would buy only a hamburger at Mar-a-Lago ahead of midterms
President Trump quipped that his promised $5,000 cash payment would barely cover a meal at his Florida club as cost-of-living concerns dominate the November midterms.
At a glance
- Trump joked that his proposed $5,000 payment would buy only a hamburger and small dessert at Mar-a-Lago.
- Cost of living is the top issue for 84% of voters ahead of the November 3 midterms, with 79% disapproving of Trump's handling.
- The $5,000-per-adult plan would cost $1.2 trillion and requires congressional approval, and economists warn it could worsen inflation.
President Donald Trump joked at a Texas rally on Tuesday that the $5,000 direct payment he has promised to every adult citizen would buy little more than "a hamburger and maybe a small dessert" at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The remark came a week before the November 3 midterm elections, where cost of living is the dominant issue for voters.
Trump has pledged to send $5,000 to each adult citizen if Republicans win control of both the House and Senate, stipulating the money must be spent within the United States. "Go to Florida, go to any one of our great places. You can even come to Mar-a-Lago," he said. "The problem is that for $5,000, the most you'll be able to buy is a hamburger and maybe a small dessert." He added that he was not sure even that would be affordable.
Affordability pressures are shaping the midterm landscape. An AP-NORC poll conducted earlier this month found that 84% of U.S. adults consider cost of living among the most important issues in deciding their vote, and 79% disapprove of Trump's handling of the issue. Polls show Democrats favored in the national popular vote for the House and competitive in several red-state Senate races that will determine control of the upper chamber.
Economists have warned that a one-time payment of this scale would do little to ease long-term affordability pressures and could worsen inflation at a time when households are already strained by high prices for gasoline and groceries. Distributing $5,000 to every adult citizen would cost roughly $1.2 trillion and require congressional approval.
Trump has a history of promising cash payments that did not materialize. Less than two months before the 2020 election, he pledged $200 prescription-drug cards to 33 million Medicare beneficiaries "in coming weeks," but the cards were never distributed.
The president's White House renovation has also become a campaign talking point. Former President Barack Obama recently mocked the redesign, saying Trump had "got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory." Trump defended the changes on Monday, blaming Obama for failing to address needed repairs and calling Obama a "lousy president."
Source: CNBC Top News.
Questions and answers
- What did Trump say about the $5,000 payment at his Texas rally?
- He joked that $5,000 would buy at most a hamburger and maybe a small dessert at Mar-a-Lago, and suggested it might not even cover that.
- How much would the $5,000 payment plan cost and what is required?
- The plan would cost roughly $1.2 trillion and requires congressional approval.
- What do polls show about voter priorities for the midterms?
- An AP-NORC poll found 84% of U.S. adults name cost of living as a top issue, and 79% disapprove of Trump's handling of it.
