Donald Trump’s bizarre bribe to American voters has echoes of a decades-old scam involving a deposed Nigerian prince, comedians have joked.
The president said at his midterm campaign rally that he would give every adult in America $5,000 if Republicans maintain power in November’s midterms. Trump, 80, called them “Trump dividends.”
“Here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them... 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,” Trump said.
“If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” the president said. “Congratulations.”
On CNN’s “Have I Got News For You” on Saturday, Pod Save America host Jon Lovett criticized the likes of Fox News’s Brett Baier, who said last week’s Trump promise “raised some eyebrows” and that the total sum would cost America $1.3 million.
“I love people getting into the specifics about why it’s not possible. Don’t worry about that. It’s not real!” the former Obama administration speechwriter said.
“It’s like, ‘Hey, Mr. Nigerian Prince, actually, you should be able to get an advance on your own money,’” he continued, referring to the decades-long scheme of scammers posing like royalty and asking for upfront fees. “‘Given the amount you have, there should be a line of credit available to you.’”
Many share Lovett’s view, pointing out that Trump has made similar unkept promises before last week’s rally. In November 2025, for instance, the president offered to give individuals from working-class American families $2,000 from tariff revenue. Nearly a year later, this offer remains unfulfilled.
Fox News senior White House correspondent Jacqui Heinrich said this is “not the first time he has promised a cash payment like this.”
“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,” said Heinrich.
Baier also pushed back against Trump’s promise, telling Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that the $5,000 cash plan would increase debt and “really spike inflation.”
Republicans, including Vice President JD Vance and Speaker Mike Johnson, have been questioned about the wild bribe plot.
“Have I Got News for You” host Roy Wood Jr. had already ripped into Trump’s proposal on the network on Friday, saying, “I just love that we have an administration that treats the American voter like one of his ex-wives. ‘How much money to make you happy? There you go.’ Like, I don’t think it’s wise.”
