DETROIT – Voters squeezed by rising costs are skeptical of President Donald Trump’s proposed $5,000 dividend — with at least one resident pointing to a previous DOGE dividend proposal that never materialized. "I feel like that's a pitch to get more votes," Yolanda Lewis told Fox News Digital. "I'm still waiting on the DOGE check that he promised that we never received, so until he gives us a definite date saying when we're gonna get that and receive it, then I'll take that into consideration." Trump suggested in February 2025 that a portion of savings generated by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) could be returned to taxpayers, while Elon Musk entertained a proposal that envisioned payments of as much as $5,000.
Trump later backed the idea of returning 20% of DOGE savings to Americans. DOGE reported $110.3 billion in savings from contracts, grants and leases, though a Government Accountability Office review later found that some of its estimates were inaccurate or lacked sufficient supporting evidence. Now, with affordability a top-of-mind issue for voters across the country, Trump has unveiled a new "Trump dividend" plan at the Midterm GOP Convention last Wednesday that would give $5,000 to American adults if Republicans maintain control of Congress.
Several Detroit voters, interviewed by Fox News Digital at the Detroit Health Department’s annual Block Party on Sept. 12, rejected the proposal, with some calling it a "bribe" and others questioning whether the money would ever be paid out. TRUMP MAKES STUNNING FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND CASH PROMISE IN BID TO RALLY GOP VOTERS AT DALLAS MIDTERM CONVENTION "I think it's kind of irresponsible because what is the long-term impact of this money?" Jahdante Smith, the Green Party candidate for the state House of Representatives 9th district, told Fox News Digital. Smith, who supports Medicare for All, pointed to the nation's roughly $40 trillion debt in questioning how the proposal would be funded.
"So where does that money come from? Where do you divert those funds from? Also, I think that it is sort of a bribe," Smith said.
Michigan, which Trump won by 1.4% in 2024, has become a key battleground in the fight for Senate control as Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Saye and Republican Mike Rogers are both vying for Michigan's open Senate seat. El-Sayed called Trump's $5,000 proposal "unserious" during a rally in Lansing, Michigan. "Funny thing about it is like there's no world in which you can pay for it," El-Sayed said.
"So how about you actually do some governing and like solve the Social Security problem. How about we guarantee people health care so they don't have to pay so much for that." Rogers' campaign did not directly comment on the former congressman's stance on Trump's $5,000 dividend plan. Instead, it pointed to El-Sayed's support for implementing a progressive tax plan.
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