Palantir cofounder Joe Lonsdale has come out against US President Donald Trump‘s proposal to send $5,000 checks to every adult American if Republicans keep control of Congress in the November midterm elections. The major Republican donor called the “Trump dividend” a bribe in a post on X, while making it clear he still wants the party to win.“For the record, I am hugely in favor of winning the midterms, and love much about this admin, but am strongly against bread and circus bribes,” Lonsdale wrote. The post went up around the time The Great American Midterm Party, which he co-hosted with Donald Trump Jr. on the sidelines of the Republican convention in Dallas, was scheduled to be underway.
Plantir cofounder mocks Trump’s $5,000 dividend with a ‘5 million USD’ reply
Lonsdale, who endorsed Trump before the 2024 election, followed up with sarcasm. Replying to a user who argued Americans deserved the money, he wrote that 5K was too small. “Why not 5 million USD to everyone?” he asked, adding, “we can just print money, right?”The phrase “bread and circuses” comes from the Roman satirist Juvenal and refers to keeping the public content with free food and entertainment.
Trump’s $5,000 midterm pledge would cost the US about $1.2 trillion
Trump unveiled the plan on Wednesday at the Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention, likening it to a company handing out cash to its shareholders. He said the money must be spent in the US but did not explain how that would be tracked.With roughly 240 million adult citizens, the payout would cost about $1.2 trillion. That is close to eight times the $154.5 billion the US collected in tariffs in the first 10 months of this fiscal year. Vice President JD Vance has pointed to tariff revenue as a funding source and suggested wealthy Americans may not qualify.Trump also claimed in a TV interview that Congress would not need to approve the payments, though tariff revenue can only be spent through legislation. His earlier promises of a $2,000 tariff dividend and a payout from DOGE savings never materialised.
Republicans are split over the Trump dividend
Lonsdale is not the only Republican pushing back. South Carolina Representative Ralph Norman, vice chair of the House Freedom Caucus, cited the country’s $40 trillion debt and said he did not know where the money would come from. Former congressman Justin Amash called it a “ridiculous, unrealizable bribe”, and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson urged party leaders to vote it down.Others are on board. Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno said he would prepare legislation to pass the dividend immediately, while Texas Senator Ted Cruz described it as a tax rebate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said it was a “good question” whether the votes would be there.Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have accused Trump of trying to bribe voters. The White House has brushed off the criticism without sharing details of the plan.For now, the checks depend on two things: the Republican win Lonsdale is rooting for, and a Congress willing to sign off on a trillion-dollar bill.
