President Donald Trump announced Dec. 17 that nearly 1.5 million U.S. military servicemembers would receive a $1,776 “warrior dividend” check this Christmas season.
“Military service members will receive a special we call ‘warrior dividend’ before Christmas, a warrior dividend in honor of our nation’s founding in 1776,” Trump said in a 9 p.m. broadcast from the White House. “The checks are already on the way… Nobody deserves it more than our military.”
Trump signaled that the money for the dividends would come from tariffs: “We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs.”
The president’s announcement of the upcoming bonus for military members came during a 20-minute speech where in addition to wishing the nation a Merry Christmas, Trump touted the achievements of his administration so far: “Seven months ago I inherited a mess and I’m fixing it.”
His announcement comes as he faces faltering approval ratings, largely over his handling of the economy. Unemployment across the country hit a four-year high, according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many Americans remain on edge that the president’s high tariffs will drive up prices.
Trump’s bonus for servicemembers is the latest of several steps the president has taken to offer support for U.S. troops. Among them, the Fiscal Year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed by Congress and sent to President Trump’s desk in December 2025, includes a 4% pay raise for service members. The law also includes $2.9 billion to fund new barracks and family housing, as well as to increase investment in childcare fee assistance.
The president also previously signed the VA Home Loan Program Reform Act into law, which creates a partial claim program to help veterans who have fallen behind on their mortgages avoid foreclosure.
Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” additionally provides broad benefits for service members and their families, including $100 million in Department of Defense Impact Aid to support public schools serving large numbers of military children.
In both his presidential terms, Trump has drawn favorability from the military and their families. A 2019 Pew Research Center report found that U.S. military veterans were largely supportive of the way Trump led the nation’s armed forces.
Pew’s survey of veterans found that a majority (57%) approved of the way Trump handled his duties as commander in chief, with about half (48%) saying his administration’s policies made the military stronger. Veterans’ assessments of the president on these and other military-related issues are more positive than those of the general public, Pew found.
In his latest run for office, most veterans voted for Trump. About six-in-ten registered voters who said they served in the U.S. military or military reserves (61%) supported former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. About 37% backed Vice President Kamala Harris, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in September 2024.
Not all of the Trump administration’s financial moves have benefited the military. At a series of town halls in March, veterans angrily confronted Republican members of Congress as they defended the cuts made under Trump adviser Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump has made broad use of the military during his second term, deploying armed forces off the coast of Venezuela and to American cities. The moves have prompted some servicemembers to call on others to resist “illegal orders.”