President Donald Trump joked that the $5,000 payments he has promised American adults would buy “a hamburger and maybe a small dessert” at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The remark comes a week before the midterm elections, which are dominated by voter concerns over the cost of living. Trump has promised $5,000 for every adult citizen if Republicans win both the House of Representatives and the Senate, specifying that the money must be spent within the US. He made the comment at a rally in Texas on Tuesday, adding with humor that “the problem is that for $5,000, the most you could buy is a hamburger and maybe a small dessert.” He even questioned whether this would be possible, advising: “No, don’t go there. It’s not a good place if you’re sensitive to prices.”
The cost of living has been the dominant issue ahead of the November 3 vote. An AP-NORC poll conducted earlier this month found that 84% of American adults ranked it among the most important issues in their voting decision, while 79% expressed disapproval of the way Trump has handled the issue. Polls generally show Democrats favored in the national popular vote for the House of Representatives and competitive in a number of Senate races in traditionally Republican states, which will determine control of the upper chamber.
Some economists have warned that a one-time direct payment would do little to ease affordability pressures and could even worsen inflation, at a time when many Americans are already feeling financial strain. Prices for essentials such as gasoline and groceries have been a particularly painful point for most American families. Sending $5,000 to every adult citizen would cost approximately $1.2 trillion and would require Congress’s approval.
The president has also made similar promises in the past about giving cash payments to Americans, which never materialized. Less than two months before the 2020 elections, Trump promised 33 million Medicare beneficiaries $200 prescription drug cards “in the coming weeks” – but the cards were never distributed. The president’s renovation of the White House has also become a point of controversy in the campaign. Speaking at a rally in Ohio last week, former President Barack Obama said Trump had “made the White House look like Saddam Hussein had opened a ‘Cheesecake Factory’,” adding that “there’s gold everywhere.” Trump defended the redesign of the White House and blamed Obama for failing to address necessary repairs, saying: “Guys like Obama don’t see it. You don’t see dirt. He doesn’t see grime. He doesn’t see broken decorations in a building… And for you to say it’s a ‘Cheesecake Factory’, that shows why you were a weak president.”
Source: CNBC