Trump dangles $5,000 to voters amid historic-low approval, unpopular war on Iran
With his approval ratings languishing in the low 30s and voters furious over the soaring cost of living and his failed war on Iran, US President Donald Trump has resorted to extraordinary measures to save his party’s midterm prospects by promising free cash.
Addressing a Republican midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday, Trump pledged a $5,000 payout to every American adult if the GOP retains control of Congress in November.
Dubbing the handout the "Trump dividend," the president offered no explanation of how the government would fund a giveaway that would theoretically cost taxpayers over $1 trillion, vaguely claiming only that "our country is making so much money."
In an admission of his own political toxicity, Trump begged the crowd to "pretend" he was actually running for office to motivate the base.
"I'm on the ballot, I'm on the ballot, just one more time," he urged the audience.
Opinion polls overwhelmingly show Trump’s approval mired in the low 30s, as the public grows increasingly angry over high prices and the ongoing military quagmire in West Asia.
Reflecting this voter frustration, Decision Desk HQ currently projects a Democratic sweep in November, with the opposition party favored to take the House 230-205 and the Senate 51-49.
Defending an unpopular war
Attempting to deflect from the economic pain felt by ordinary Americans, Trump used his two-hour speech to defend his deeply unpopular war on Iran.
Now dragging into its seventh month, the deadly war of aggression has become a massive financial drain on US taxpayers while sending global energy prices skyrocketing.
Delusionally linking the failed war to domestic economics, Trump claimed that "oil will be going down as soon as we win the war with Iran," before suggesting that the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz should be renamed after himself.
Despite entering office on a platform of ending foreign wars and cutting military spending, Trump has instead plunged the US into what is now widely considered the most unpopular war in modern American history.
Falling back on familiar culture-war grievances, Trump spent much of the speech fearmongering about a supposed left-wing takeover.
“There is a crazy little sick cloud over our country,” he claimed, warning without evidence that the US would become a "communist country" if Democrats win.
He also baselessly claimed his second term has been “the most successful two years, financially and every other way, in the history of the presidency.”
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