President Donald Trump is staring down an electoral disaster, so he’s turning to his favorite party trick: bribery! During the first night of his bizarre Republican midterm convention, Trump promised to send every single adult U.S. citizen a $5,000 check if his party holds onto Congress. This last-ditch attempt seemed to be an act of desperation — much like the midterm convention itself. To be clear, the president doesn’t have the authority to send out such payments without congressional authorization. And Congress would never approve such a voter bribe, which would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, if not more than $1 trillion.SUPPORT HUFFPOSTBut Trump hopes you don’t know that. He also hopes you don’t remember the many times he’s promised to send Americans direct payments with zero follow-up. Just last November, Trump posted on Truth Social that tariff revenue had made America rich.“A dividend of at least $2000 a person (not including high income people!) will be paid to everyone,” Trump wrote.The money never materialized. The White House insisted Trump would make the latest promise of checks happen. “President Trump has consistently proven his doubters wrong, drawing a clear contrast with the Democrats’ record of historic inflation, unfettered illegal immigration, skyrocketing crime, and weakness on the world stage,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said Thursday.HuffPost has held this administration accountable for its many, many lies — and we won’t stop now. We’re here to scrutinize promises, follow the money, question those in power and give you the facts you need to make sense of our political landscape. Help keep that journalism independent. Become a HuffPost member today. Gold and Platinum members can enjoy HuffPost ad-free. SUPPORT HUFFPOSTRelatedDonald TrumpRepublican Party2026 elections