Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich Questions Trump’s $5,000 Midterms Promise

President Donald Trump made a bold promise to voters during the Republican midterm convention on Wednesday (September 9), but the pledge quickly drew skepticism, including from Fox News.

Speaking at the convention in Dallas, Texas, Trump said, “If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our tremendous economic success, like, in history we’ve never had anything like what’s happening, but because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.”

The president revealed just one caveat: the money would have to be spent in the U.S.

Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich reported from the convention on Wednesday, and she noted that it wasn’t the first time Trump has made such a promise.

“We should note, though, it is not the first time he has promised a cash payment like this,” Heinrich said. “He promised Americans $2,000 rebates during his tariff policy, when that was enacted, but after court challenges to the tariffs themselves, those $2,000 checks, so far, have not materialized.”

Social media users were also skeptical, with some recalling how Trump previously touted $5,000 checks from alleged savings claimed by the now-defunct Department of Government Efficiency. Those payments never materialized.

Others accused the president of attempting to bribe voters ahead of the upcoming midterms.

You have to be a special kind of stupid to believe that Trump will give every American a $5,000 dividend if Republicans win the midterms.

— Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) September 10, 2026

“Trump openly bribing people to vote for republicans. $5k per person if republicans hold the house and the senate?” wrote one X user.

“You have to be a special kind of stupid to believe that Trump will give every American a $5,000 dividend if Republicans win the midterms,” said another.

“My daddy used to call this ‘vote buying,'” another added.

Another wrote, “Like the DOGE cheques? Or the Tariff cheques? Will Americans ever wise up to this conman?”

Baier: $5000 for every adult citizen, that’s about $1.3 trillion. The critics will say the president is bribing voters and he’s bankrupting the country.

Vance: Tariffs have generated a lot of revenues. The president is saying, if you keep us in power, then you will share in… pic.twitter.com/BrIpPuzeuh

— Acyn (@Acyn) September 10, 2026

Fox News anchor Bret Baier raised these criticisms while interviewing Vice President JD Vance on Wednesday night. “$5000 for every adult citizen; you do the quick math, that’s about $1.3 trillion,” he said. “I can hear the critics heads exploding, they’re saying the president is bribing voters… and he’s bankrupting the country.”

Vance argued, “Those tariffs have generated a lot of revenues. The president is saying, if you keep it going, if you keep us in power, then you will share in some of the benefit of this incredible wealth that we are creating in the United States of America.”

The VP’s comments were ‘community noted’ on X, with people explaining that annual tariff revenue (under $300 billion) cannot fund a $1.3 trillion payout, and that it would require congressional approval.