Did Donald Trump try to bribe American voters?
Donald Trump has promised $5,000 to every American if he wins in the November midterms. The News Agents say no one is going to see a penny of that.
Listen to this article
What’s the story?
"If it walks like a bribe and quacks like a bribe, it's a bribe."
Donald Trump has promised $5,000 to every American if he 'wins' in the November midterms.
He can't win, he's not on the ballot, but he has asked MAGA voters to pretend he is, and support his tariffs, inflation and war in Iran when they go to the polls.
Trump has historically low approval ratings in America, and polling suggests he could lose both the Senate, and Congress, to the Democratic Party in the upcoming vote.
Offering money for votes is illegal – although giving the same amount to everyone, no matter how they voted, would get around that.
The US is currently crippled with debt, and handing out this cash would cost the country an estimated $1 trillion.
"That money is definitely not going to change hands," says Emily Maitlis.
"We know that because he's already done this before."
And every time he has promised cash giveaways to American citizens, such as when Elon Musk's failed DOGE project was set to rid wasteful bureaucracy from the government, the money never materialised.
Musk flopped, no one got paid.
"It's a bit like an old man going up to a small child and saying and asking; 'would you like a sweetie covered in lint?'" Maitlis adds.
Trump also doesn't control the purse strings. Any payment like this would need to be passed by Congress and the Senate.
"There is not a cat's chance in hell they are going to pass it," says Jon Sopel.
"It shows Donald Trump's profound weakness right now.
"If he thought things were looking bright for the midterm elections, he'd be saying, "look at what we've done'."
But with a soaring cost of living crisis, people in America are "desperate", and The News Agents say people may "hear what they want to hear".