President Donald Trump really wants to send you a check.
Throughout his second term, Trump has pledged to send Americans money in various ways, including tariff rebate checks and bonuses to select government employees.
Some of that free money is actually becoming a reality: Congress created “Trump Accounts” as part of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which will provide tax-free federal grants of $1,000 to children born in the next few years.
Others remain elusive, or have fallen by the wayside. Remember the DOGE dividend?
Trump also sent out checks during his first term, but under much different circumstances. As part of two successive COVID-era stimulus bills, the federal government sent Americans $1,200 in the spring of 2020 and $600 in the winter, shortly before the president left office.
Trump’s signature appeared on those checks, which was a source of controversy during a presidential election year.
Here are all of the instances of free money that Trump has promised or floated during his second term.
$5,000 DOGE dividends
In February 2025, investor James Fishback floated the idea of sending $5,000 “DOGE Dividend” checks to almost 80 million taxpaying American households.
Those checks would have been paid for by spending cuts achieved by DOGE, the government efficiency office led by Elon Musk at the time.
The idea quickly caught Musk’s attention, and Trump eventually said that the idea was under consideration.
But there were some problems. For one, the $5,000 figure was based on Musk’s original estimate of $2 trillion in savings, which never materialized.
Republicans in Congress also balked at the idea, saying they preferred to see a reduction in the national debt.
“I mean, politically, that would be great for us,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said at the time. “But if you think about our core principles, right? Fiscal responsibility is what we do.”
The idea eventually faded, though Trump’s political operation has continued to float it in fundraising emails.
$2,000 tariff rebate checks
While defending tariffs in a November 2025 Truth Social post, Trump said his administration would pay “everyone” except “high-income people” a dividend of at least $2,000.
Although Trump’s Truth Social posts are not actual government orders, the statement drew attention from citizens and his colleagues in Washington, D.C.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget published an analysis the following day, stating that there would not be enough tariff revenue to support the idea.
“With our national debt quickly approaching an all-time high and annual budget deficits approaching $2 trillion per year, it is imperative that policymakers focus on actually reducing deficits and putting debt on a downward path,” the committee wrote.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also pushed back on Trump’s dividend remark during an ABC News interview, saying there were no plans to spend tariff revenue.
Trump would also need approval from Congress to pass such an order, which seems unlikely given the lack of enthusiasm from Republican lawmakers.
“We’re facing a deficit this year around $2 trillion,” Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Wisconsin, told reporters. “I think whatever revenue we get, from whatever source, ought to go to try and bring down those deficits.”
Trump’s proposed timeline for the tariff checks has also shifted. In November, he floated mid-2026 for the checks. But in an interview with the New York Times in January, he said it could come “toward the end of the year.”
He’s also dismissed the idea that he needs an act of Congress to send the checks, including in a briefing with reporters at the White House before his trip to Davos.
“I don’t think we would have to go the Congress route,” Trump said. “But you know, we’ll find out.”
$10,000 bonuses for air traffic controllers
The longest government shutdown in US history began on October 1, 2025, lasting 43 days while Democrats and Republicans in Congress negotiated a new budget.
The fallout forced the government to furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers, while others — such as air traffic controllers — had to continue working without pay ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday rush.
Air traffic controllers received their first $0 paychecks in late October 2025. Some of them stopped showing up for work, sparking a staffing shortage and an onslaught of flight delays and cancellations.
One month later, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that the shutdown put air traffic controllers in a difficult spot.
“They’re confronted with a decision: Do I put food on my kids’ table, do I put gas in the car, do I pay my rent, or do I go to work and not get paid? They’re making decisions,” Duffy said. “I’ve encouraged them all to come to work. I want them to come to work, but they’re making life decisions that they shouldn’t have to make.”
Trump, meanwhile, criticized the air traffic controllers who had not shown up for work during the shutdown in a November 2025 Truth Social post.
“For those that did nothing but complain, and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid, IN FULL, shortly into the future, I am NOT HAPPY WITH YOU,” Trump wrote.
He said air traffic controllers who didn’t take time off during the shutdown were “GREAT PATRIOTS” and he would recommend a $10,000 bonus for each of them.
Duffy shared more details in an X post, writing that 776 air traffic controllers would receive $10,000 bonus checks in early December 2025.
“Santa’s coming to town a little early,” Duffy wrote.
$1,000 for Trump Accounts
Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” into law on July 4, 2025, implementing new tax policies and changes to federal programs, including SNAP.
The bill also introduced so-called Trump Accounts, which are specialized retirement accounts for US children. They were previously referred to as “money account for growth and advancement,” or MAGA accounts.
The Trump administration said children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, who open Trump Accounts, would receive a one-time $1,000 tax-free federal grant. US children with a valid Social Security number are eligible. Friends, family, and others may deposit an additional $5,000 tax-free into those accounts.
The White House said several CEOs agreed to invest in Trump Accounts, including Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon.
In December 2025, Michael and Susan Dell pledged to invest $6.25 billion to support Invest America, the federal program that spearheaded Trump Accounts.
Hedge fund manager Ray Dalio has also pledged to deposit $250 into the Trump Accounts of 300,000 Connecticut children. Some large companies, like BlackRock, have offered a $1,000 match for the children of eligible employees.
At an event in Toledo, Ohio, in January, Vice President JD Vance joked that the accounts played a role in his and Second Lady Usha Vance’s decision to have a fourth child, which is due in July.
“You know, we were debating having a 4th child, and I said, ‘honey, you know the new Trump accounts and the increased child tax credit are coming online, we got to take advantage of this stuff,” Vance said.
Trump Accounts officially launched this July.
$1,776 “Warrior dividends” for troops
During an economic address to Americans in December 2025, Trump said his administration would provide bonus checks to members of the military before Christmas.
In a subsequent news release, the newly rebranded Department of War said Trump is giving service members bonus checks to “thank them for their military service and to commemorate the 250 years the US military has been defending the nation.”
The checks, dubbed the “Warrior Dividend,” are each worth $1,776.
“Money to pay for the Warrior Dividend came earlier this year as part of the president’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Approximately 1.28 million active-duty and 174,000 reserve component military members will receive the dividend as a nontaxable supplement to their regular monthly housing allowance,” the Department of War said.
The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service said that the dividends that eligible service members received in December 2025 were tax-free.
Direct payments for healthcare
Trump also wants to give Americans free money for healthcare — though the details are scarce.
In January, the White House released a framework for “The Great Healthcare Plan.” It includes a provision to stop “sending big insurance companies billions in extra taxpayer-funded subsidy payments and instead send that money directly to eligible Americans to allow them to buy the health insurance of their choice.”
Trump has repeatedly touted the idea, though it’s unclear exactly how it would work or how much money would be involved.
“In other words, we cut out the insurance companies. They’re making a fortune,” Trump said at a White House event promoting the plan. “We pay the money directly to the people.”
One plan introduced by GOP senators, the Health Care Freedom For Patients Act, would include payments of up to $1,500 into health savings accounts for people who earn less than 700% of the federal poverty level.
Meanwhile, Affordable Care Act subsidies expired at the end of 2025, with no clear path for extending them. As a result, premiums for many Americans are skyrocketing, and enrollment is falling.
$500 Affordable Care Act refund checks
President Donald J. Trump announces $500 rebate checks to nearly 1 million hardworking Americans who were wrongly overcharged through Obamacare.
“Our Administration is doing the right thing and giving the money back to the people who were wrongly ripped off.” pic.twitter.com/XWA1wlzRH8— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 10, 2026
In September, Trump announced his administration would give $500 rebate checks to almost one million Americans who were “wrongly overcharged” through the Affordable Care Act. Subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, expired in 2025.
“Nearly one million hardworking Americans in 30 states will soon be getting refunds of $500 each, with a check sent to their home address,” Trump said.
He said the rebate check “in many cases” would be enough for Americans to cover any spikes in their insurance rates. While the Affordable Care Act did increase insurance costs for many Americans, lower- and middle-class Americans received subsidies to offset those costs.
$5,000 dividend for supporting GOP midterm candidates
During the Republican National Committee’s first-ever midterm convention on Wednesday, Trump said every American citizen would receive a $5,000 dividend if Republicans maintained control of the House and Senate following the November midterm elections.
Trump said the dividend is “very much like a successful company will do a cash distribution to its shareholders.” He said the money must be spent in the US. It was initially unclear if the move was legal or if anyone would actually receive checks.
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