By Hedelberto López Blanch *
What convicted US President Donald Trump proposed has just shattered all the electoral norms of so-called “capitalist democracy” by publicly suggesting that if the Republican Party manages to retain the House of Representatives and the Senate in the November legislative elections, it will give each voter $5,000.
Such a bribe completely undermines all the propaganda claiming that the electoral model in Western countries is “democratic.”
Just imagine the enormous campaign that the mainstream media would unleash if a progressive and nationalist candidate from Brazil, Mexico, Nicaragua, or Cuba, to name a few examples, were to announce that they would give thousands of dollars to voters who supported them.
Without hesitation, major newspapers would attack these measures with epithets of dictatorship, autocracy, violation of democracy, and many others. But in this particular case, Western propaganda outlets have ignored the serious proposal made by Trump and, instead, have dedicated themselves to trying to sugarcoat this blatant bribery with discussions about whether or not the offer is valid.
The magnate presented the so-called “Trump Dividend” during the Republican convention held on Thursday, September 11, in Dallas, Texas. With his usual arrogance, he maintained that he did not believe he needed congressional approval to implement the program and asserted that legislators would support him should authorization ultimately be required.
The unusual proposal would cost approximately $1.2 trillion, based on the country’s roughly 245 million adult citizens. Economists and tax experts have questioned the idea, at a time when the federal government is registering annual deficits of nearly $2 trillion.
The US public debt has surpassed $40 trillion, equivalent to approximately 123-125% of the country’s GDP. Between October 2025 and July 2026, Washington spent $963 billion on debt interest alone, an amount exceeding even the military’s expenditures during that period.
In a recent editorial, the Mexican newspaper La Jornada stated: “What is worrying is that, whether or not he fulfills his promise, offering a direct payment in exchange for his party’s electoral victory represents the demolition of any remaining vestiges of democracy in that nation. The clearest sign of the deterioration of US institutions is that, at any other time and in any other country, such a declaration would be a major scandal leading to sanctions and possibly ending the political career of the person involved, but in Trump’s Washington, it’s just another day.”
In this regard, the editorial explains that the dismantling of American democracy and the destruction of controls on campaign finance began half a century ago and have intensified with Trump’s arrival at the White House.
In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled that limiting campaign spending violates freedom of speech, and since then, there has been no limit on independent spending or the money a candidate can squander from their own pocket. In June of this year, it eliminated limits on the amount political parties can spend on advertising and other items in coordination with candidates.
Between these two rulings, La Jornada points out, the Supreme Court also allowed unlimited donations from individuals and the use of donated funds for candidates to pay for all their own campaign expenses. In other words, a candidate can buy their way into office with their own money and then raise funds from those who are “friends” of a senator, governor, or president.
Furthermore, any registered non-profit organization can spend without any limit on elections and keep its donors’ identities confidential. In other words, in the United States, the criminal groups that Washington claims to be fighting have free rein to legally finance politicians, and no one can question the source of the money.
These election campaigns also see a flow of abundant capital, including that of the Jewish lobby, millionaire businesspeople, and any wealthy organization that needs to support a particular candidate for its own interests and businesses, regardless of whether that candidate has been corrupt, a drug trafficker, a pedophile, or an embezzler. And if the shoe fits, wear it.
All of this would be considered blatant corruption in any other country in the world, but not in the United States.
This is what so-called “capitalist democratic elections” look like: everything for the powerful, little for the poor. Just another one of the Trumpian tricks the American tycoon is known for.
(*) Hedelberto López Blanch is a renowned Cuban journalist. He writes for the newspaper Juventud Rebelde and the weekly Opciones. He is the author of “Cuban Emigration to the United States,” “Secret Stories of Cuban Doctors in Africa,” and “Miami, Dirty Money,” among others.
[ SOURCE: RESUMEN LATINOAMERICANO Y DEL TERCER MUNDO CUBA / EN RESUMEN ]
