Trump’s $1,776 ‘Warrior Dividend’ Triggers Backlash Over Funding, Branded ‘Always a Con Artist’

President Donald Trump’s latest primetime promise is already unraveling.

During his national address Wednesday night, Trump announced what he called a “warrior dividend,” telling Americans that more than one million US service members would soon receive a $1,776 check just days before Christmas.

The number was not random. Trump said it was chosen to honor the year 1776.

“In honor of our nation’s founding in 1776, we are sending every soldier $1,776,” Trump declared. “Think of that. And the checks are already on the way.”

Trump said the payments were possible because of tariff revenue and his “big beautiful bill,” which he signed earlier this year. He framed the move as a personal show of gratitude to the military.

“Nobody deserves it more than our military,” he said. “And I say congratulations to everybody.”

The announcement was met with applause inside the room. Online, the reaction was far less celebratory.

Almost immediately, critics questioned how Trump could authorize direct payments to troops without new approval from Congress. Within hours, reporting began to shed light on where the money was actually coming from.

According to Defense One, the funds behind the checks were not new money at all. Instead, they came from reconciliation funds already approved by Congress to help subsidize housing costs for service members.

A senior administration official confirmed that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Pentagon to “disburse $2.6 billion as a one time basic allowance for housing supplement” to eligible troops.

“Congress appropriated $2.9 billion to the Department of War to supplement the Basic Allowance for Housing entitlement within The One Big Beautiful Bill,” the official said.

In other words, the money was already allocated. It was simply repackaged.

That detail fueled a wave of backlash across social media.

“I was wondering how Trump found his troop pay money without a congressional authorization,” wrote Atlantic writer David Frum. “He found it by taking it away from troop housing money. Always a con artist.”

MeidasTouch editor in chief Ron Filipkowski accused Trump of playing politics with military pay.

“Trump is taking money out their housing allowances approved by Congress and giving it to them in a ‘bonus’ so it looks like it came from him,” he wrote. “It’s just a shell game with military pay from the ultimate con man.”

Former Republican congressman Joe Walsh was even more blunt.

“Classic Trump,” Walsh wrote. “Everything he does is a lie, everything he does is just bullshit repackaging.”

Democratic lawmakers echoed those concerns.

New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman called the dividend “no more than rebranded military housing allowances.”

“Trump isn’t giving our brave service members a bonus,” she wrote. “He’s just shuffling around money so he can claim he is.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, a veteran who lost both legs while serving in Iraq, also slammed the announcement.

“Gee thanks, Donald,” Duckworth wrote. “Your $1,776 ‘warrior checks’ aren’t Christmas bonuses. You’re just stealing money out of a fund meant to help our troops find affordable housing. Once a conman always a conman.”

Trump also used the moment to boast about military recruitment, claiming the US now has “record enlistment.”

He added that just one year ago the military saw “among the worst recruitment numbers in our history.”

Those claims were not immediately backed up with data.

Featured image via Youtube screengrab