Sept. 10, 2026
Trump’s Latest Promise To Americans That’s Too Good Or Too Illegal To Be True
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RSS Feed There are all sorts of issues with President Trump’s stunning, and unconventional promise at Wednesday’s Republican midterm convention. Trump announcing that “If the Republicans win, you win," promising every U.S. adult citizen $5,000 if Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate come November. Trump describing the cash payout like a successful company that gives a cash distribution to its shareholders. Obviously it’s illegal to influence votes, but even if this offer falls into a legal loophole, it’s still unclear how Trump would pay for the $1.2 trillion dollars the offer would cost, and if the outcome of recent financial promises are any indication… your check won’t be in the mail anytime soon, if ever.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, September 10th, and congratulations, have you heard? $ 5, 000 is coming your way. We know that because President Trump promised it last night. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Does it seem unfair that I didn't add the caveats at the top?
00:00:23
Speaker 2: Well, you know, details, details.
00:00:27
Speaker 1: Who wants to get bogged down in the details? The headline is this. The President of the United States said he is going to send $ 5, 000 checks, dividend checks, he said, to every adult in America.
00:00:40
Speaker 3: If, if, if Republicans win, we all win. That's his promise. Democrats are calling it an empty promise. And we can explain why.
00:00:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, it won't take too long to understand why. But Rob, this is fairly remarkable. What was, I'm not sure when you, I didn't see it until this morning because we went to bed a little early before you made a speech down at the midterm convention down in Dallas. Just the idea of it. Before you took a dive into it, really, you hear, president says $ 5, 000 checks if Republicans win.
00:01:18
Speaker 3: My first instinct is, yeah, isn't that totally illegal to buy votes?
00:01:22
Speaker 1: You know what? That was my first thought, too.
00:01:23
Speaker 3: It was illegal.
00:01:24
Speaker 1: I didn't get excited.
00:01:24
Speaker 2: Like, completely illegal.
00:01:26
Speaker 1: I know.
00:01:27
Speaker 3: Let me say that everybody wins if we win. And remember that when you go to the voting booth in November, because if Republicans win, you get.
00:01:39
Speaker 2: $ 5, 000. How in God's name is that legal?
00:01:43
Speaker 1: It might be, actually, and we will explain. Now, we also explain why some people roll their eyes, Robes, because this is the first time he promised something like this, and many of us are still waiting on said checks. But last night, he said, Robes, as a part of, you have to explain this one to me. He said, America is doing so well. We're bringing in so much money. So he's doing this as a dividend, like very much a company would that has big profit at the end of the year. You divide it up amongst the people who have helped that company throughout the year. This is the idea that we have gotten so weak. We are rolling in dough. But Robes, I remember some different reporting not too long ago about our deficit. Please help me make sense of that.
00:02:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, I believe that we have.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: A $ 1. 8 trillion deficit, something around there.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: Oh, we'd hit that every year. But it was last month. We just did the report. $ 40 trillion. Trillion dollars. The first time this country has ever gone over the $ 40 trillion mark. So I hear that, and then he says we're rolling in dough.
00:02:52
Speaker 2: We're in surplus. We have so much money, we don't know what to do with it all.
00:02:56
Speaker 1: So we're going to give it out to everybody.
00:02:58
Speaker 3: So why not go ahead? By the way, if you do the math, what is it? 250 adult citizens, $ 5, 000 each? Mm-hmm. Another $ 1. 2 trillion?
00:03:08
Speaker 1: About that.
00:03:09
Speaker 4: All right.
00:03:09
Speaker 2: And that's adding to.
00:03:10
Speaker 3: The $ 1. 8 trillion we're adding each year?
00:03:12
Speaker 1: There's that.
00:03:15
Speaker 3: Okay, he's saying it's the tariffs, whose legality is also hanging in the balance.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: Oh, we've already had to refund that money to a bunch of companies in a bunch of countries.
00:03:24
Speaker 3: But we've got new tariffs against Canada. That should bring in a lot of dough.
00:03:28
Speaker 1: Hey, they say we are rolling in it. So, folks, you hear this. Who is, I guess the debate, Robes, this morning is, who's actually going to fall for this? Is there anyone out there, Robes, his base, an independent or otherwise leader, that hears this and now, oh, I better get out there and run to the midterms because my $ 5, 000 is coming and I better make sure these Republicans get in there or stay in there. Is anyone thinking this, he's going to deliver on this?
00:03:59
Speaker 2: Ah, yes.
00:03:59
Speaker 3: There are people who absolutely believe what the president tells him or her. And I do believe that we should be able to just on a, I don't know, on a Shouldn't we be able to trust what our leader tells us is going to happen? Shouldn't we be able to have some belief in what we hear from the elected leader of the United States of America?
00:04:24
Speaker 1: You're adorable.
00:04:25
Speaker 2: Shouldn't that be like a basic standard?
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Yes, but we are in different times. So Robes, last night, I'll play this here. I'm just going to play it. Forgive us. We're just going to play it from the phone. I didn't. and put it on the soundboard and everything else. So sorry, it might be a little rough here. But this is a crowd. What have you seen in terms of the crowd? There have been a lot of... He's always big on how big the crowds are that come to see him. But there are reports that this place isn't necessarily full. We've seen the pictures of it. But he's speaking in front of an audience.
00:04:56
Speaker 3: All I know is I saw nothing but American flags behind him as he was speaking that were strategically placed right behind him.
00:05:05
Speaker 2: Yes, these little boards, these little.
00:05:07
Speaker 3: sandwich board signs of American flags just literally in a sea behind him.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: It was effective.
00:05:13
Speaker 1: Okay, so with that in mind, folks, this is what the president said with the sea of American flags behind him. This is how he announced that we are all going to get $ 5, 000.
00:05:25
Speaker 4: Condition on the payment of this dividend that we're going to be making so it's $ 5, 000 to every adult the only caveat I have is that the dividend that we're making must be spent in the United States.
00:05:42
Speaker 1: Of America We don't want you.
00:05:50
Speaker 4: Going to Canada to spend the money. We don't want you going to China, to Germany. You got to spend the money in the United States of America. In other words, if the Republicans win, if you win, we might not win. The reason the Democrats can't do that is because.
00:06:08
Speaker 1: They don't do tariffs.
00:06:09
Speaker 4: They don't take in money.
00:06:10
Speaker 1: All they know is.
00:06:11
Speaker 4: Poverty and how to ruin our country.
00:06:13
Speaker 1: But we're making a fortune.
00:06:15
Speaker 4: So if the Republicans win, you win with us and you.
00:06:18
Speaker 3: Get $ 5, 000.
00:06:18
Speaker 4: It will be called the Trump dividend. We'll call it the Trump dividend.
00:06:25
Speaker 1: Congratulations.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: Congratulations.
00:06:31
Speaker 3: You know what?
00:06:32
Speaker 1: I didn't have to keep that in there, but I did.
00:06:35
Speaker 2: Congratulations.
00:06:36
Speaker 1: I have to.
00:06:37
Speaker 2: You're all winners.
00:06:40
Speaker 1: Democrats, just all they know is poverty and how to ruin the country. Is there any politician, is there any American fighting for poverty and wanting to ruin the country? It's that kind of stuff that just... These are not good faith debates sometimes.
00:06:55
Speaker 3: Look, I mean, when you lump an entire group of people who don't think the way you do into one category and say they are all invested in poverty, they want to ruin the country, they hate our country, it's the same rhetoric he says and provides about journalists.
00:07:13
Speaker 2: We're all fake news. We all want to ruin the country. We all want to destroy each other.
00:07:20
Speaker 3: Obviously, if you take a step back, making wide sweeping generalizations, obviously that can't be true. None of that can actually be true. And he says it in such a grandiose way. It's remarkable to me that people even cheer because how could that be true? Obviously, what he's saying makes no sense. What he's saying oftentimes is flat out false. And now he's making a promise that.
00:07:50
Speaker 2: I think most.
00:07:51
Speaker 3: People, if they actually really think about it, believe he can't possibly follow through on.
00:07:57
Speaker 1: Okay, so a couple things there. One, Rose, about the following through. He's probably not going to win anyway. I mean, can he make this promise because it's not looking good for Republicans keeping the House and the Senate? Can he just make this pledge knowing full and hell well he won't ever have to deliver on it?
00:08:19
Speaker 3: Well, I think he actually thinks this might change the tide. To me, this actually reeks of desperation. I'm so desperate that we're not going to be able to maintain control of the House and Senate that I'm actually willing to actually dangle money.
00:08:37
Speaker 2: And buy people's votes.
00:08:39
Speaker 3: Literally, that is what he's trying to do so that they can get a $ 5, 000 check.
00:08:44
Speaker 2: To me, that reeks of desperation.
00:08:46
Speaker 1: You know, you just reminded me of a very funny line. I say funny, but this is how. Ah, wow.
00:08:53
Speaker 3: Now, no.
00:08:53
Speaker 1: I'm going to have to find it. It was a funny, funny way that one of the articles broke down. Like in one line, in the opening line of their article, like he's, to your desperation point, like he's hoping people are going to be gullible enough to.
00:09:09
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:09:10
Speaker 3: I do feel like at some point, can we all just say that it's insulting? It's insulting that you actually think that we're sitting there like a dog going, please, please feed me, give me some money, and I'll believe you when you tell me you're going to send me a check, like the checks in the mail, literally.
00:09:31
Speaker 2: If you vote for Republicans, we'll send you a check.
00:09:34
Speaker 3: First of all, the premise of that is outrageous and disgusting. I just don't understand how people aren't calling him on it within his own party. Like, this isn't possible.
00:09:48
Speaker 2: No, instead we have congressmen saying, I'll go ahead and start the bill.
00:09:53
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:09:54
Speaker 2: Bernie, right?
00:09:54
Speaker 1: Bernie Moreno.
00:09:55
Speaker 3: Bernie Moreno, who's been in headlines for lots of other reasons, namely his ex-son-in-law. But the fact that he's right up there just saying, hell yeah, Mr. President, let's get it started. Let's get the ball rolling.
00:10:08
Speaker 2: Are you for real?
00:10:09
Speaker 1: Now, they're hoping this is going to play. Democrats have been having an affordability push saying, and they put it on the president. Look at you. You're paying more for your eggs, for your beef, for your this, for your that, for your gas. For your gas. You're paying more for everything because of this Iran war. They have, many will argue, been fairly effective in putting that message out there and blaming Republicans for it, and it looks like they might take a beating here in the midterms. So, this possibly robes, gets him back on track with a message of, look, I'm trying to give you money. I'm trying to make things more affordable. But the only way I can do that is if you gotta give me my guys and my gals in Congress. So, it could be a way to pick up a few votes in this race or that race? Is it really going to move a margin to save the House and the Senate for him? Don't know. But he's trying to play on that thing that's on everybody's mind, Robes. Gas is $ 4.
00:11:03
Speaker 3: 27.
00:11:03
Speaker 1: It was $ 4 a month ago.
00:11:05
Speaker 3: Yeah. And a year ago, it had a three in front of it, or at least before the Iran war. And in some places, even a two. I was going to say, in some places, even a two. Was that the national average?
00:11:14
Speaker 1: It was $ 2. 98, I think.
00:11:15
Speaker 2: Look, we all know this by now. It's the economy, stupid.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: And obviously midterm elections, if you look historically, whoever's in power, whoever has control, it flips because people are pissed off about the state.
00:11:27
Speaker 2: Of the economy almost always.
00:11:30
Speaker 3: And in this case, specifically with the war in Iran, it's undeniable. I mean, everyone knows that their grocery bills are higher. Everyone knows that their gas bills are significantly higher. I have my 20-year-old complaining to me and actually taking a job where they are paying her gas money because she's so upset about how much more her gas bill is costing her every week. And that is when you've got a limited income, which a lot of Americans do, that is so painfully obvious that you are suffering because just driving to work, to pay your bills, you now are at a deficit in a way you weren't a year ago, in a way you weren't two years ago.
00:12:15
Speaker 1: So he's, to your point, Robes, desperate. He's trying to speak to those folks who he knows good and hell well are pissed at him for this Iran war costing them money. An Iran war that he keeps telling us, Robes, they were going to have a nuclear weapon in 10 minutes if he didn't strike. Nobody's buying. And Robes, these Republicans, and a lot of them not showing up at the convention down there, Because they want to keep a distance. Susan Collins is in a tight race, ain't she?
00:12:42
Speaker 2: Very much so.
00:12:43
Speaker 1: She is far from Texas.
00:12:46
Speaker 2: I mean.
00:12:47
Speaker 1: She is staying very far from Texas. But we talk about legalities. Oh, I found the line, by the way, for political. This is just great. President Donald Trump just dropped a hot mess of a half-baked midterm promise in lawmakers' laps.
00:13:00
Speaker 3: Oh, wow. That's a very well, yes, organized sentence there that packs a punch.
00:13:05
Speaker 1: Callan Razor is the author. I want to give him credit. Dropped a hot mess of a half-baked midterm promise in your lap. Deal with it. What are you supposed to do now? So your first question, everybody's first question, is this legal? Well, stay here. We'll explain why it might be. The other thing, though, even if it is legal, we have very recent evidence to suggest the president ain't sending you nothing.
00:13:40
Speaker 3: Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. Yes, we all heard it correctly. President Trump is promising if Republicans win the midterms, meaning they keep control of the House and the Senate, every adult U.S. citizen will be receiving a $ 5, 000.
00:14:00
Speaker 2: Check in the mail.
00:14:00
Speaker 3: How's that for an incentive to to vote Republican come November.
00:14:05
Speaker 1: Or even if you don't vote, you can just hope.
00:14:09
Speaker 2: Hopefully more people will vote for Republicans.
00:14:11
Speaker 3: No, but the big question, the big glaring obvious question is, is this legal?
00:14:16
Speaker 2: And you are saying it might be?
00:14:19
Speaker 1: It might be, Robes. And it might be perfectly legal. The federal rules don't allow you to offer expenditures of some kind in exchange for a vote or influencing somebody's vote. That seems pretty cut and dry.
00:14:33
Speaker 2: Seems like that would fall into that category.
00:14:35
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, Robes. It's that he is not asking for you to vote a certain way. He's not even asking for you to vote. Legally, strictly, very literally speaking, he only said, I'm going to give you the money if we win.
00:14:55
Speaker 3: But couldn't you argue that by saying that you are influencing votes? Yes.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: Period. You could.
00:15:04
Speaker 3: It seems obvious that that is a deliberate and direct attempt to influence a vote. You're not holding people to it. You're not saying if you don't, you don't get the money. But if you do and if enough people do, you will get the money. How would that not be influential?
00:15:20
Speaker 1: You got to take it up with the Supreme Court. This is one of those things. It's not clear, but already some legal analysts are putting in their two cents and saying yes, because he didn't say vote for us and we will do this for you. He just said if we win. We will do this. He didn't say, anybody, vote for us, vote for us, vote for us, vote for Republicans. He didn't say it. To your point, you're 100% right, baby, yes.
00:15:49
Speaker 3: But yes, obviously there is still an incentive there for folks to consider it maybe in a way that they wouldn't have otherwise. Now, the other part of this is, okay, say the Republicans keep control of the House and Senate.
00:16:03
Speaker 2: They win the midterms. When's that check coming?
00:16:07
Speaker 3: Never.
00:16:08
Speaker 4: Ever.
00:16:09
Speaker 1: Ever, ever.
00:16:11
Speaker 2: If history is any indication.
00:16:13
Speaker 1: Very recent history. Rose, you remember? No, let's go back to Elon. He was first. He was doing, how much money did he find? Doge made all those cuts to the federal government. Oh, yeah.
00:16:24
Speaker 2: He was giving out $ 1 million checks.
00:16:26
Speaker 1: No, that was the Wisconsin thing. You remember? There was a race up there in Wisconsin he was trying to influence, in which he was... saying just sign up to vote and you're in a lottery to win a million dollars. He gave out several checks.
00:16:39
Speaker 2: He did.
00:16:39
Speaker 1: That's still in court right now. They are still battling over it.
00:16:42
Speaker 2: Because that influences people's votes.
00:16:45
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:16:45
Speaker 1: The other thing was the Doge cuts. He was in charge of Doge. They found all this money they saved in the government. And what did they say? We're going to send rebate checks to all Americans.
00:16:56
Speaker 2: Where are those rebate checks?
00:16:57
Speaker 1: They never came.
00:16:58
Speaker 2: Anyone talking about the rebate checks? Asking about the rebate checks?
00:17:02
Speaker 1: Rebate checks aren't coming. And then there were the tariffs. Very excited about this. We're getting all this money in tariffs. He's going to spread the wealth, baby. We didn't get those checks.
00:17:11
Speaker 2: Where did those checks?
00:17:12
Speaker 1: Those checks never.
00:17:13
Speaker 2: Where are those checks?
00:17:14
Speaker 1: Those checks aren't happening. They aren't coming. These were very two very recent, very as high profile promises he's made about rebate checks that simply went away.
00:17:25
Speaker 3: Now, the other promise he made about babies born, they get $ 1, 000 in a Trump fund.
00:17:29
Speaker 2: That thing has happened. That has happened.
00:17:32
Speaker 3: So I just wanted to at least give him credit for that, that he did establish that, he did announce that, and it does appear that it is going on and it does exist.
00:17:42
Speaker 2: And that does help families, for sure.
00:17:45
Speaker 1: Oh, of course it does.
00:17:46
Speaker 3: So I just wanted to give that nod. He did make that promise, and he did follow through on that.
00:17:50
Speaker 1: What are they called, Trump accounts? Trump accounts.
00:17:52
Speaker 2: Trump accounts.
00:17:54
Speaker 1: And these are Trump dividends.
00:17:55
Speaker 2: What's in a name? What's in a name?
00:17:57
Speaker 1: Trump dividends. But yeah, everybody is buzzing. We'll be talking about this today at least. And Robes, that maybe is the point. We're talking about something else. We didn't do a full expose on the Iran war today in Morning Run. We talked about this.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: And that's what he wanted.
00:18:15
Speaker 1: This is what he wanted.
00:18:16
Speaker 2: And look, it's important to point out, we already heard J.D.
00:18:20
Speaker 3: Vance try to walk it back a little and say, well, the wealthiest Americans probably wouldn't be eligible for these $ 5, 000 checks.
00:18:30
Speaker 2: So already we're starting to get some stipulations.
00:18:33
Speaker 3: He said the only caveat, by the way, the president, you heard him there, was that you had to spend the money in the United States.
00:18:41
Speaker 2: So J.D.
00:18:42
Speaker 3: Vance already added another caveat. If you earn a certain amount, you might not be eligible. But let's go back to Trump's caveat.
00:18:49
Speaker 2: How in the.
00:18:49
Speaker 3: Hell would he ever police that? That is a silly, silly thing to say. You couldn't give someone $ 5, 000. Now you're going to spend how much resources tracking how people spend that money?
00:19:02
Speaker 2: You can't. You can't possibly.
00:19:05
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of any way you could do that. You have to have just certain companies you could buy from or something, some kind of card.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: A debit card.
00:19:12
Speaker 3: You get like a debit card that's only allowed to be spent. How do you have those controls on a card?
00:19:18
Speaker 1: Home Depot cards. I don't know how you do this. This is not going to happen. And yes, J.D. Vance in his role as vice president, he is the let me explain in chief. Every time Trump says something, he has to go out and kind of soften the blow a little bit. God love him. But he had to do it once again. And again, we fell for it, right, Robes? Talking about something else. Let me hit you with this so y'all will forget about this.
00:19:43
Speaker 2: Don't talk about gas prices.
00:19:45
Speaker 3: Don't talk about the cost of the grocery store items that you purchase every week.
00:19:49
Speaker 2: Let's talk about... you getting $ 5, 000.
00:19:51
Speaker 1: And I'm looking up. Don't talk about me not going to New York for 9-11 anniversary. Talk about anything else.
00:19:58
Speaker 2: You get a check. You get a check.
00:20:00
Speaker 1: You get a check.
00:20:01
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:20:01
Speaker 1: If it was Oprah, I would believe it. I don't buy it. All right, folks. We appreciate you as always. I'm TJ. That's Robes. We'll talk to y'all soon.
Speaker 1: Hey there, folks. It is Thursday, September 10th, and congratulations, have you heard? $ 5, 000 is coming your way. We know that because President Trump promised it last night. And with that, welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. Does it seem unfair that I didn't add the caveats at the top?
00:00:23
Speaker 2: Well, you know, details, details.
00:00:27
Speaker 1: Who wants to get bogged down in the details? The headline is this. The President of the United States said he is going to send $ 5, 000 checks, dividend checks, he said, to every adult in America.
00:00:40
Speaker 3: If, if, if Republicans win, we all win. That's his promise. Democrats are calling it an empty promise. And we can explain why.
00:00:53
Speaker 1: Yeah, it won't take too long to understand why. But Rob, this is fairly remarkable. What was, I'm not sure when you, I didn't see it until this morning because we went to bed a little early before you made a speech down at the midterm convention down in Dallas. Just the idea of it. Before you took a dive into it, really, you hear, president says $ 5, 000 checks if Republicans win.
00:01:18
Speaker 3: My first instinct is, yeah, isn't that totally illegal to buy votes?
00:01:22
Speaker 1: You know what? That was my first thought, too.
00:01:23
Speaker 3: It was illegal.
00:01:24
Speaker 1: I didn't get excited.
00:01:24
Speaker 2: Like, completely illegal.
00:01:26
Speaker 1: I know.
00:01:27
Speaker 3: Let me say that everybody wins if we win. And remember that when you go to the voting booth in November, because if Republicans win, you get.
00:01:39
Speaker 2: $ 5, 000. How in God's name is that legal?
00:01:43
Speaker 1: It might be, actually, and we will explain. Now, we also explain why some people roll their eyes, Robes, because this is the first time he promised something like this, and many of us are still waiting on said checks. But last night, he said, Robes, as a part of, you have to explain this one to me. He said, America is doing so well. We're bringing in so much money. So he's doing this as a dividend, like very much a company would that has big profit at the end of the year. You divide it up amongst the people who have helped that company throughout the year. This is the idea that we have gotten so weak. We are rolling in dough. But Robes, I remember some different reporting not too long ago about our deficit. Please help me make sense of that.
00:02:32
Speaker 3: Yeah, I believe that we have.
00:02:37
Speaker 2: A $ 1. 8 trillion deficit, something around there.
00:02:40
Speaker 1: Oh, we'd hit that every year. But it was last month. We just did the report. $ 40 trillion. Trillion dollars. The first time this country has ever gone over the $ 40 trillion mark. So I hear that, and then he says we're rolling in dough.
00:02:52
Speaker 2: We're in surplus. We have so much money, we don't know what to do with it all.
00:02:56
Speaker 1: So we're going to give it out to everybody.
00:02:58
Speaker 3: So why not go ahead? By the way, if you do the math, what is it? 250 adult citizens, $ 5, 000 each? Mm-hmm. Another $ 1. 2 trillion?
00:03:08
Speaker 1: About that.
00:03:09
Speaker 4: All right.
00:03:09
Speaker 2: And that's adding to.
00:03:10
Speaker 3: The $ 1. 8 trillion we're adding each year?
00:03:12
Speaker 1: There's that.
00:03:15
Speaker 3: Okay, he's saying it's the tariffs, whose legality is also hanging in the balance.
00:03:20
Speaker 1: Oh, we've already had to refund that money to a bunch of companies in a bunch of countries.
00:03:24
Speaker 3: But we've got new tariffs against Canada. That should bring in a lot of dough.
00:03:28
Speaker 1: Hey, they say we are rolling in it. So, folks, you hear this. Who is, I guess the debate, Robes, this morning is, who's actually going to fall for this? Is there anyone out there, Robes, his base, an independent or otherwise leader, that hears this and now, oh, I better get out there and run to the midterms because my $ 5, 000 is coming and I better make sure these Republicans get in there or stay in there. Is anyone thinking this, he's going to deliver on this?
00:03:59
Speaker 2: Ah, yes.
00:03:59
Speaker 3: There are people who absolutely believe what the president tells him or her. And I do believe that we should be able to just on a, I don't know, on a Shouldn't we be able to trust what our leader tells us is going to happen? Shouldn't we be able to have some belief in what we hear from the elected leader of the United States of America?
00:04:24
Speaker 1: You're adorable.
00:04:25
Speaker 2: Shouldn't that be like a basic standard?
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Yes, but we are in different times. So Robes, last night, I'll play this here. I'm just going to play it. Forgive us. We're just going to play it from the phone. I didn't. and put it on the soundboard and everything else. So sorry, it might be a little rough here. But this is a crowd. What have you seen in terms of the crowd? There have been a lot of... He's always big on how big the crowds are that come to see him. But there are reports that this place isn't necessarily full. We've seen the pictures of it. But he's speaking in front of an audience.
00:04:56
Speaker 3: All I know is I saw nothing but American flags behind him as he was speaking that were strategically placed right behind him.
00:05:05
Speaker 2: Yes, these little boards, these little.
00:05:07
Speaker 3: sandwich board signs of American flags just literally in a sea behind him.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: It was effective.
00:05:13
Speaker 1: Okay, so with that in mind, folks, this is what the president said with the sea of American flags behind him. This is how he announced that we are all going to get $ 5, 000.
00:05:25
Speaker 4: Condition on the payment of this dividend that we're going to be making so it's $ 5, 000 to every adult the only caveat I have is that the dividend that we're making must be spent in the United States.
00:05:42
Speaker 1: Of America We don't want you.
00:05:50
Speaker 4: Going to Canada to spend the money. We don't want you going to China, to Germany. You got to spend the money in the United States of America. In other words, if the Republicans win, if you win, we might not win. The reason the Democrats can't do that is because.
00:06:08
Speaker 1: They don't do tariffs.
00:06:09
Speaker 4: They don't take in money.
00:06:10
Speaker 1: All they know is.
00:06:11
Speaker 4: Poverty and how to ruin our country.
00:06:13
Speaker 1: But we're making a fortune.
00:06:15
Speaker 4: So if the Republicans win, you win with us and you.
00:06:18
Speaker 3: Get $ 5, 000.
00:06:18
Speaker 4: It will be called the Trump dividend. We'll call it the Trump dividend.
00:06:25
Speaker 1: Congratulations.
00:06:30
Speaker 2: Congratulations.
00:06:31
Speaker 3: You know what?
00:06:32
Speaker 1: I didn't have to keep that in there, but I did.
00:06:35
Speaker 2: Congratulations.
00:06:36
Speaker 1: I have to.
00:06:37
Speaker 2: You're all winners.
00:06:40
Speaker 1: Democrats, just all they know is poverty and how to ruin the country. Is there any politician, is there any American fighting for poverty and wanting to ruin the country? It's that kind of stuff that just... These are not good faith debates sometimes.
00:06:55
Speaker 3: Look, I mean, when you lump an entire group of people who don't think the way you do into one category and say they are all invested in poverty, they want to ruin the country, they hate our country, it's the same rhetoric he says and provides about journalists.
00:07:13
Speaker 2: We're all fake news. We all want to ruin the country. We all want to destroy each other.
00:07:20
Speaker 3: Obviously, if you take a step back, making wide sweeping generalizations, obviously that can't be true. None of that can actually be true. And he says it in such a grandiose way. It's remarkable to me that people even cheer because how could that be true? Obviously, what he's saying makes no sense. What he's saying oftentimes is flat out false. And now he's making a promise that.
00:07:50
Speaker 2: I think most.
00:07:51
Speaker 3: People, if they actually really think about it, believe he can't possibly follow through on.
00:07:57
Speaker 1: Okay, so a couple things there. One, Rose, about the following through. He's probably not going to win anyway. I mean, can he make this promise because it's not looking good for Republicans keeping the House and the Senate? Can he just make this pledge knowing full and hell well he won't ever have to deliver on it?
00:08:19
Speaker 3: Well, I think he actually thinks this might change the tide. To me, this actually reeks of desperation. I'm so desperate that we're not going to be able to maintain control of the House and Senate that I'm actually willing to actually dangle money.
00:08:37
Speaker 2: And buy people's votes.
00:08:39
Speaker 3: Literally, that is what he's trying to do so that they can get a $ 5, 000 check.
00:08:44
Speaker 2: To me, that reeks of desperation.
00:08:46
Speaker 1: You know, you just reminded me of a very funny line. I say funny, but this is how. Ah, wow.
00:08:53
Speaker 3: Now, no.
00:08:53
Speaker 1: I'm going to have to find it. It was a funny, funny way that one of the articles broke down. Like in one line, in the opening line of their article, like he's, to your desperation point, like he's hoping people are going to be gullible enough to.
00:09:09
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:09:10
Speaker 3: I do feel like at some point, can we all just say that it's insulting? It's insulting that you actually think that we're sitting there like a dog going, please, please feed me, give me some money, and I'll believe you when you tell me you're going to send me a check, like the checks in the mail, literally.
00:09:31
Speaker 2: If you vote for Republicans, we'll send you a check.
00:09:34
Speaker 3: First of all, the premise of that is outrageous and disgusting. I just don't understand how people aren't calling him on it within his own party. Like, this isn't possible.
00:09:48
Speaker 2: No, instead we have congressmen saying, I'll go ahead and start the bill.
00:09:53
Speaker 3: Yes.
00:09:54
Speaker 2: Bernie, right?
00:09:54
Speaker 1: Bernie Moreno.
00:09:55
Speaker 3: Bernie Moreno, who's been in headlines for lots of other reasons, namely his ex-son-in-law. But the fact that he's right up there just saying, hell yeah, Mr. President, let's get it started. Let's get the ball rolling.
00:10:08
Speaker 2: Are you for real?
00:10:09
Speaker 1: Now, they're hoping this is going to play. Democrats have been having an affordability push saying, and they put it on the president. Look at you. You're paying more for your eggs, for your beef, for your this, for your that, for your gas. For your gas. You're paying more for everything because of this Iran war. They have, many will argue, been fairly effective in putting that message out there and blaming Republicans for it, and it looks like they might take a beating here in the midterms. So, this possibly robes, gets him back on track with a message of, look, I'm trying to give you money. I'm trying to make things more affordable. But the only way I can do that is if you gotta give me my guys and my gals in Congress. So, it could be a way to pick up a few votes in this race or that race? Is it really going to move a margin to save the House and the Senate for him? Don't know. But he's trying to play on that thing that's on everybody's mind, Robes. Gas is $ 4.
00:11:03
Speaker 3: 27.
00:11:03
Speaker 1: It was $ 4 a month ago.
00:11:05
Speaker 3: Yeah. And a year ago, it had a three in front of it, or at least before the Iran war. And in some places, even a two. I was going to say, in some places, even a two. Was that the national average?
00:11:14
Speaker 1: It was $ 2. 98, I think.
00:11:15
Speaker 2: Look, we all know this by now. It's the economy, stupid.
00:11:19
Speaker 3: And obviously midterm elections, if you look historically, whoever's in power, whoever has control, it flips because people are pissed off about the state.
00:11:27
Speaker 2: Of the economy almost always.
00:11:30
Speaker 3: And in this case, specifically with the war in Iran, it's undeniable. I mean, everyone knows that their grocery bills are higher. Everyone knows that their gas bills are significantly higher. I have my 20-year-old complaining to me and actually taking a job where they are paying her gas money because she's so upset about how much more her gas bill is costing her every week. And that is when you've got a limited income, which a lot of Americans do, that is so painfully obvious that you are suffering because just driving to work, to pay your bills, you now are at a deficit in a way you weren't a year ago, in a way you weren't two years ago.
00:12:15
Speaker 1: So he's, to your point, Robes, desperate. He's trying to speak to those folks who he knows good and hell well are pissed at him for this Iran war costing them money. An Iran war that he keeps telling us, Robes, they were going to have a nuclear weapon in 10 minutes if he didn't strike. Nobody's buying. And Robes, these Republicans, and a lot of them not showing up at the convention down there, Because they want to keep a distance. Susan Collins is in a tight race, ain't she?
00:12:42
Speaker 2: Very much so.
00:12:43
Speaker 1: She is far from Texas.
00:12:46
Speaker 2: I mean.
00:12:47
Speaker 1: She is staying very far from Texas. But we talk about legalities. Oh, I found the line, by the way, for political. This is just great. President Donald Trump just dropped a hot mess of a half-baked midterm promise in lawmakers' laps.
00:13:00
Speaker 3: Oh, wow. That's a very well, yes, organized sentence there that packs a punch.
00:13:05
Speaker 1: Callan Razor is the author. I want to give him credit. Dropped a hot mess of a half-baked midterm promise in your lap. Deal with it. What are you supposed to do now? So your first question, everybody's first question, is this legal? Well, stay here. We'll explain why it might be. The other thing, though, even if it is legal, we have very recent evidence to suggest the president ain't sending you nothing.
00:13:40
Speaker 3: Welcome back everyone to Amy and TJ. Yes, we all heard it correctly. President Trump is promising if Republicans win the midterms, meaning they keep control of the House and the Senate, every adult U.S. citizen will be receiving a $ 5, 000.
00:14:00
Speaker 2: Check in the mail.
00:14:00
Speaker 3: How's that for an incentive to to vote Republican come November.
00:14:05
Speaker 1: Or even if you don't vote, you can just hope.
00:14:09
Speaker 2: Hopefully more people will vote for Republicans.
00:14:11
Speaker 3: No, but the big question, the big glaring obvious question is, is this legal?
00:14:16
Speaker 2: And you are saying it might be?
00:14:19
Speaker 1: It might be, Robes. And it might be perfectly legal. The federal rules don't allow you to offer expenditures of some kind in exchange for a vote or influencing somebody's vote. That seems pretty cut and dry.
00:14:33
Speaker 2: Seems like that would fall into that category.
00:14:35
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, Robes. It's that he is not asking for you to vote a certain way. He's not even asking for you to vote. Legally, strictly, very literally speaking, he only said, I'm going to give you the money if we win.
00:14:55
Speaker 3: But couldn't you argue that by saying that you are influencing votes? Yes.
00:15:02
Speaker 1: Period. You could.
00:15:04
Speaker 3: It seems obvious that that is a deliberate and direct attempt to influence a vote. You're not holding people to it. You're not saying if you don't, you don't get the money. But if you do and if enough people do, you will get the money. How would that not be influential?
00:15:20
Speaker 1: You got to take it up with the Supreme Court. This is one of those things. It's not clear, but already some legal analysts are putting in their two cents and saying yes, because he didn't say vote for us and we will do this for you. He just said if we win. We will do this. He didn't say, anybody, vote for us, vote for us, vote for us, vote for Republicans. He didn't say it. To your point, you're 100% right, baby, yes.
00:15:49
Speaker 3: But yes, obviously there is still an incentive there for folks to consider it maybe in a way that they wouldn't have otherwise. Now, the other part of this is, okay, say the Republicans keep control of the House and Senate.
00:16:03
Speaker 2: They win the midterms. When's that check coming?
00:16:07
Speaker 3: Never.
00:16:08
Speaker 4: Ever.
00:16:09
Speaker 1: Ever, ever.
00:16:11
Speaker 2: If history is any indication.
00:16:13
Speaker 1: Very recent history. Rose, you remember? No, let's go back to Elon. He was first. He was doing, how much money did he find? Doge made all those cuts to the federal government. Oh, yeah.
00:16:24
Speaker 2: He was giving out $ 1 million checks.
00:16:26
Speaker 1: No, that was the Wisconsin thing. You remember? There was a race up there in Wisconsin he was trying to influence, in which he was... saying just sign up to vote and you're in a lottery to win a million dollars. He gave out several checks.
00:16:39
Speaker 2: He did.
00:16:39
Speaker 1: That's still in court right now. They are still battling over it.
00:16:42
Speaker 2: Because that influences people's votes.
00:16:45
Speaker 4: Yes.
00:16:45
Speaker 1: The other thing was the Doge cuts. He was in charge of Doge. They found all this money they saved in the government. And what did they say? We're going to send rebate checks to all Americans.
00:16:56
Speaker 2: Where are those rebate checks?
00:16:57
Speaker 1: They never came.
00:16:58
Speaker 2: Anyone talking about the rebate checks? Asking about the rebate checks?
00:17:02
Speaker 1: Rebate checks aren't coming. And then there were the tariffs. Very excited about this. We're getting all this money in tariffs. He's going to spread the wealth, baby. We didn't get those checks.
00:17:11
Speaker 2: Where did those checks?
00:17:12
Speaker 1: Those checks never.
00:17:13
Speaker 2: Where are those checks?
00:17:14
Speaker 1: Those checks aren't happening. They aren't coming. These were very two very recent, very as high profile promises he's made about rebate checks that simply went away.
00:17:25
Speaker 3: Now, the other promise he made about babies born, they get $ 1, 000 in a Trump fund.
00:17:29
Speaker 2: That thing has happened. That has happened.
00:17:32
Speaker 3: So I just wanted to at least give him credit for that, that he did establish that, he did announce that, and it does appear that it is going on and it does exist.
00:17:42
Speaker 2: And that does help families, for sure.
00:17:45
Speaker 1: Oh, of course it does.
00:17:46
Speaker 3: So I just wanted to give that nod. He did make that promise, and he did follow through on that.
00:17:50
Speaker 1: What are they called, Trump accounts? Trump accounts.
00:17:52
Speaker 2: Trump accounts.
00:17:54
Speaker 1: And these are Trump dividends.
00:17:55
Speaker 2: What's in a name? What's in a name?
00:17:57
Speaker 1: Trump dividends. But yeah, everybody is buzzing. We'll be talking about this today at least. And Robes, that maybe is the point. We're talking about something else. We didn't do a full expose on the Iran war today in Morning Run. We talked about this.
00:18:14
Speaker 2: And that's what he wanted.
00:18:15
Speaker 1: This is what he wanted.
00:18:16
Speaker 2: And look, it's important to point out, we already heard J.D.
00:18:20
Speaker 3: Vance try to walk it back a little and say, well, the wealthiest Americans probably wouldn't be eligible for these $ 5, 000 checks.
00:18:30
Speaker 2: So already we're starting to get some stipulations.
00:18:33
Speaker 3: He said the only caveat, by the way, the president, you heard him there, was that you had to spend the money in the United States.
00:18:41
Speaker 2: So J.D.
00:18:42
Speaker 3: Vance already added another caveat. If you earn a certain amount, you might not be eligible. But let's go back to Trump's caveat.
00:18:49
Speaker 2: How in the.
00:18:49
Speaker 3: Hell would he ever police that? That is a silly, silly thing to say. You couldn't give someone $ 5, 000. Now you're going to spend how much resources tracking how people spend that money?
00:19:02
Speaker 2: You can't. You can't possibly.
00:19:05
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of any way you could do that. You have to have just certain companies you could buy from or something, some kind of card.
00:19:11
Speaker 2: A debit card.
00:19:12
Speaker 3: You get like a debit card that's only allowed to be spent. How do you have those controls on a card?
00:19:18
Speaker 1: Home Depot cards. I don't know how you do this. This is not going to happen. And yes, J.D. Vance in his role as vice president, he is the let me explain in chief. Every time Trump says something, he has to go out and kind of soften the blow a little bit. God love him. But he had to do it once again. And again, we fell for it, right, Robes? Talking about something else. Let me hit you with this so y'all will forget about this.
00:19:43
Speaker 2: Don't talk about gas prices.
00:19:45
Speaker 3: Don't talk about the cost of the grocery store items that you purchase every week.
00:19:49
Speaker 2: Let's talk about... you getting $ 5, 000.
00:19:51
Speaker 1: And I'm looking up. Don't talk about me not going to New York for 9-11 anniversary. Talk about anything else.
00:19:58
Speaker 2: You get a check. You get a check.
00:20:00
Speaker 1: You get a check.
00:20:01
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:20:01
Speaker 1: If it was Oprah, I would believe it. I don't buy it. All right, folks. We appreciate you as always. I'm TJ. That's Robes. We'll talk to y'all soon.