FORT MYERS, Fla. — President Donald Trump used a packed midterm campaign rally in southwest Florida on Friday to promise a $5,000 payment to every adult American citizen if Republicans win the House and Senate, and to announce a $250 million plan to hire at least 5,000 nurses for elder-care facilities, according to live reporting from the News-Press and other published accounts of the speech.
Speaking at Florida Gulf Coast University’s Alico Arena, Trump told the crowd: “If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the Senate, I am going to give all adult citizens in the United States in America, $5,000,” calling the proposed payout the “Trump dividend,” according to the News-Press live updates. He credited tariff revenue and economic growth as the funding source and said the money would have to be spent inside the United States. He compared the proposal to a previous $1,776 payment issued to military personnel during his administration.
The dividend is a campaign promise, not a programme: it would require Republicans to hold both chambers and Congress to approve the payments, and the administration has published no eligibility rules or application process. There is currently no way for Americans to apply for the proposed payment.
Elder-care nurses and the Florida governor’s race
Trump also announced that his administration is investing $250 million to hire at least 5,000 new nurses in elder-care facilities across America, an announcement aimed at Florida’s large senior population. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, joined him, according to published accounts of the rally. Implementation details, including how the money would be distributed to facilities, were not provided.
The rally’s purpose was to boost Republican Byron Donalds in Florida’s governor’s race. Trump attacked Donalds’ Democratic opponent, David Jolly, calling him “a vicious anti-gun radical who wants to take away your firearms” with “an F rating from the NRA,” and said Donalds “will always defend your right to keep and bear arms,” according to the News-Press. The arena reached capacity, and some supporters who had waited for hours were turned away.
Cuba, Iran and the wider speech
In a speech that ran more than an hour, Trump also tied Cuba to the war with Iran, saying U.S. naval forces returning from Iran would stop off Cuba’s coast and that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would “finish up the deal,” according to Reuters reporting carried in published accounts of the rally. He repeated that further military action against Iran may lie ahead — remarks that connect the rally directly to the oil-price and Middle East pressures Republicans face before the November 3 midterms.
Trump’s next stop was Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach before further rallies in other states, part of a near-daily midterm travel blitz. Whether the $5,000 promise survives contact with Congress is a question for after the election — if Republicans win.
Source: News-Press live updates, October 23, 2026 — Trump wraps up Fort Myers rally at Alico Arena.
