Trump Pleads With Voters to ‘Pretend’ He’s on the Ballot in Midterms as He Doubles Down on $5000 Payment

Screenshot via Truth Social

President Donald Trump posted a series of videos to Truth Social on Saturday, doubling down on his promise of $5,000 checks to voters if Republicans win the midterms.

“In this election, I’m asking you to pretend I’m on the ballot. Whenever I’m on the ballot, we get 45% more votes. So I’m not on the ballot, but pretend I am because this is a big deal,” Trump said in one video encouraging people to vote early or by mail in the midterms.

Trump called the upcoming midterms “one of the most important elections of our lives.”

In a separate video, the president doubled down on his promise to deliver $5,000 checks to voters if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate.

“Only I can make you this promise. If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections, I’m going to give all adult citizens in the United States of America, $5,000,” Trump said.

He claimed Democrats will bring about economic disaster in what was one of five videos he posted on Saturday morning.

“We’re taking in massive amounts of money through tariffs and record economic success, but Democrat policies won’t allow this to happen. In fact the opposite is going to take place. They’re gonna raise your taxes and they’re gonna destroy our country and certainly destroy our economy. It’ll be a 1929 disaster,” Trump said.

The president claimed that cutting $5,000 checks for every American will be “very easy” because of money brought in through tariffs and other investments.

“The Trump dividend is approximately $1 trillion, but we have a record-setting $21 trillion that’s being invested in our country in just the last 15 months. So it’s actually a very easy thing to do for me, but the Democrats can never do it,” he said.

Last month, Trump pushed back on a reporter asking why he would not cut those checks now instead of tying them to election results.

“I don’t want to do it now,” he said. “Because if the Democrats go to get in, our country will be in shambles and they won’t be able to do it. If we get in, we’re taking in tremendous amounts of money. We’re taking in over $20 trillion in terms of investment. And if the Democrats, all of that money will be thrown out.”

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