Democrats Should Embrace the Trump Dividend and All Its Bullsh*t

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Cite

Last, J. V. (2026, September 11). Democrats Should Embrace the Trump Dividend and All Its Bullsh*t. The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-should-embrace-the-5000-dollar-trillion-trump-dividend-and-all-its-bs

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Bulwark · collected 2026-09-11 · by Jonathan V. Last commentary

Quick Summary

This opinion piece is a satirical critique of a transcript from President Trump's speech, annotated by the author to highlight its absurdity and grandiose claims. The key numbers mentioned are 15,000 words and 105 minutes for the length of Trump's speech, as well as 65 billion barrels being claimed as the US oil reserve. The article takes an analytical angle, using humor and irony to dissect Trump's rhetoric and exaggerated statements about America's future, economy, and military power.
Written by AI on 2026-09-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Last week, President Donald Trump promised voters that every American adult would receive a $5,000 check if Republicans maintain control of both the House and Senate in November's midterm elections. The proposal has drawn significant scrutiny, with experts estimating it could cost over $1 trillion, nearly doubling the national deficit at a time when inflation is high. Trump made the announcement during his Republican Midterm Convention speech in Dallas without providing details on how the funds would be sourced or distributed. Critics have labeled the offer as an attempt to bribe voters and questioned its legality, with Democrats calling it an empty promise. Despite opposition, Trump remains committed to following through, claiming he knows "exactly how" the plan will be funded and dismissing concerns about congressional approval.

Written for “Trump $5k Pledge Midterms” on 2026-10-29, grounded in this article and the 27 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Trump $5k Pledge Midterms
Politics · 28 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly right and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (US)
Hedges 2 of 35 claims Outlet record 70/100
TIME
Hedges 7 of 32 claims Outlet record 59/100
CBC News
Hedges 7 of 39 claims Outlet record 60/100
Mother Jones
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 95/100
Zeteo
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 0 of 10 claims
NPR
⚖️ Leans left further left than this Hedges 2 of 39 claims Outlet record 60/100
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 2 of 50 claims Outlet record 70/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Trump's political messaging and rhetorical style, rather than a single specific incident or speech occurrence.”
The Bulwark
⚖️ Centre further left than this Hedges 1 of 6 claims
“Article A discusses Trump's speech and its content, while Article B mentions the speech as a topic of discussion, but also includes additional information about Laura Loomer picking fights at Trump's convention.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
54
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
6%
3 of 54 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly right
expected in commentary, which argues a position · beta estimate
Publisher signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
28
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
110
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Bulwark · 540 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Jonathan V. Last
34 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Maybe we do!
2026-10-27 · assertive framing · Nationalize SpaceX
🔮 1. Forecasts We’re eight days out from Election Day.
2026-10-26 · assertive framing · Who’s Right? The Polls or the Vibes?
🔮 If you have questions for Tim, Sarah and JVL, send them to nextlevel@thebulwark.com and they may answer them on an upcoming episode of TNL.
2026-10-23 · assertive framing · The Worst Person in the World
🔮 1. Asymmetry Joe Manchin will be in Maine tomorrow campaigning for Susan Collins.
2026-10-20 · assertive framing · F*ck Joe Manchin
🔮 Trump could just move her over to the Shield of the Americas, because one of the fake jobs at that fake organization just opened up.
2026-10-16 · assertive framing · The Trump Administration Is Run on Kink
🔮 If you have questions for Tim, Sarah and JVL, send them to nextlevel@thebulwark.com and they may answer them on an upcoming episode of TNL.
2026-10-16 · assertive framing · So Many Bad Things
🔮 Texas might get a Democratic senator.
2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Susan Collins Is the Living Worst
🔮 Will Sommer joins Sarah and JVL for a wild, wild show.
2026-10-07 · assertive framing · MAGA’s Racism is Blowing Up Its Own Coalition
🔮 Every once in a while a “journalist” will jump from the press side into a comms role in a presidential administration.
2026-10-06 · assertive framing · The Propagandist in the Press Pool
🔮 Bulwark LIVE: Charlotte featuring Pete Buttigieg & The Gang—will be live streamed on Sunday, October 18 starting at 7pm EDT.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Tale of Two Interviews
Also by Jonathan V. Last
Trump’s Safe Space for Strongmen
2026-10-28 · The Bulwark
Nationalize SpaceX
2026-10-27 · The Bulwark
Who’s Right? The Polls or the Vibes?
2026-10-26 · The Bulwark
The Worst Person in the World
2026-10-23 · The Bulwark
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 34 articles by Jonathan V. Last →

Topics

America Democrats New America Republican Venezuela

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 7× New America GPE · 5× America GPE · 3× Intel ORG · 3× Democrats NORP · 2× Venezuela GPE · 2× Iran GPE · 1× New Mexico GPE · 1× Republican NORP · 1× Republicans NORP · 1×

Narrative

A subscription gets you: - Unlimited access to articles and newsletters including The Triad by JVL and Receipts by Catherine Rampell. - Ad-free editions of our shows (with transcripts) and member-only shows like The Secret Podcast. - Plus community chats and commenting features.
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Claims (54 extracted, 3 hedged)

1. I Listened First off—I’m lying. asserted
I → listen → ?
I didn’t listen to Trump’s speech.1 asserted
I → listen → ?
I read the transcript instead. asserted
I → read → transcript
So as a public service, let me share some annotated excerpts from Trump’s 15,000-word, 105-minute psychotic break. asserted
me → let → break
“If we hand America’s future to the radical left Democrats and our nation will spend the next decade just getting back on its feet, it will be a tragedy. asserted
it → hand → feet
Vote Republican and we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come.” asserted
we → vote → generations
If Trump’s party loses, America is ruined for forever! asserted
America → lose → ?
But if Trump’s party wins, America will be great for forever! asserted
America → win → ?
Unless the Democrats win the next election. asserted
Democrats → win → election
At which point all of Trump’s permanent gains are reset. asserted
all → reset → gains
“[I]f we lose, you’re going to lose your border, you’re going to lose your tax cuts, you’re going to lose your safety and security, you’re going to lose your wealth. asserted
you → lose → wealth
Our country is going through hell.” asserted
country → go → hell
Trump claims he had the greatest two years of presidenting ever—but all of that will be wiped away if Republicans lose the midterms. uncertain
Republicans → claim → midterms
Just goes to show how fragile success is, I guess? asserted
I → go → ?
“By the way, you know, I just put out, because you know Lake Ontario, we’re gonna call that now Lake America, you know that. asserted
you → know → that
The, uh, other one we came up with today, well, we could go into oceans like the Pacific Ocean or the Atlantic. uncertain
we → come → Ocean
We can’t have both. asserted
We → have → both
I don’t think you can do both, that’s [inaudible]. asserted
that → think → both
But we did come up with one the other day which we think is appropriate. asserted
we → come → one
You have a neighboring state, New Mexico. asserted
You → have → state
We think it should be called New America, New America. asserted
it → think → ?
I’ll tell you, the people love the idea. asserted
people → tell → idea
New America, your neighbor is called New America. asserted
neighbor → call → ?
” What’s this cuck talk about not having both oceans? asserted
talk → ’ → oceans
“And food prices and almost every other item are rapidly going down. asserted
prices → go → ?
And by the way, oil will be going down as soon as we win the war with Iran, which is taking place right now. asserted
which → go → place
We’ll win it. asserted
We → win → it
We’re winning it. asserted
We → win → it
We control the Hormuz Strait. asserted
We → control → Strait
I think we should call the Hormuz Strait, we should call it the Trump [Strait]. asserted
we → think → it
We will win! asserted
We → win → ?
We are winning! asserted
We → win → ?
We have already won! asserted
We → win → ?
The Iranians might be able to stop the flow of oil, but they can’t stop Big Orange from forcing Google and Apple to change the name of the strait on their maps. uncertain
they → stop → maps
That’s real power. asserted
That → ’ → ?
Now you’re, we’re the biggest in the world. asserted
we → ’re → world
And that’s without Venezuela, which we’ve just added to our little stockpile. asserted
we → ’ → stockpile
It’s, it’s the biggest oil deal and probably it’s the biggest deal in the history of our country. asserted
it → ’ → country
65 billion barrels are ours and you know what they say it is? asserted
it → know → ?
He just . . . he just said it. asserted
he → say → it
…and 14 more, not listed.
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