DeSantis Slams Trump's Idea for $5K Checks

Ron DeSantis wants relief checks off the Republican menu, Politico reports. The Florida governor on Thursday rejected President Trump's idea of $5,000 "Trump dividends" for Americans if the GOP holds in the midterms, warning that borrowing up to $1.5 trillion for direct payments would fuel "more debt and more inflation." DeSantis argued surplus revenue should go to tax cuts instead and pointed to Florida's low-tax model and proposed property tax reductions as the path Republicans should emulate. Other Republican lawmakers have also expressed skepticism about the checks, Reuters reports. (Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday told CBS News he doesn't think Congress would need to approve proposed payments.)

DeSantis tied big federal spending programs—from the 2008 bank rescue to COVID stimulus packages—to today's affordability problems and said Republicans shouldn't copy what he framed as Democratic-style federal intervention. Despite a repaired personal relationship with Trump, DeSantis has repeatedly broken with him on economic policy as well as Trump's lack of enthusiasm for AI regulation, which DeSantis has called "amnesty for Big Tech."