Trump’s first term had real stimulus checks. His second has promised ones tied to problems he started

President Donald Trump’s first-term stimulus checks were a response to a pandemic he didn’t cause. His second-term cash promises are mostly a response to problems his own policies created, and now stretch to an election he may lose because of them.

At the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday, Trump pledged $5,000 to every American if Republicans hold the House and Senate in November, calling it the “Trump Dividend” and comparing it to a company’s shareholder payout. The pledge would cost more than $1 trillion and is conditioned on an election result rather than an economic one.

Vice President JD Vance appeared to walk that back within an hour, saying the money wouldn’t go to wealthy Americans. Still, a lawyer told the Associated Press the plan is probably legal anyway, since it would pay everyone regardless of how, or whether, they vote.

You get a check, and you get a check

Trump’s promise to send checks to people’s houses might bring up a few memories from years ago, when Trump signed the CARES Act on March 27, 2020, sending $1,200 to eligible adults and $500 per child, with income-based phaseouts. That December, he signed a second round of $600 checks into law. (At first, he........

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