Troops will receive $1,776 checks before Christmas, Trump announces
(CNN) — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he would be issuing checks to members of the United States military for $1,776 – in honor of the country’s founding – calling the payment the “Warrior Dividend.”
“1,450,000 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, we are sending every soldier $1,776,” Trump said during his televised address to the nation.
“And the checks are already on the way.”
Trump credited tariffs for bringing in money, though he didn’t say directly how the initiative would be funded.
“We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs, and the bill helped us along. Nobody deserves it more than our military, and I say congratulations to everybody,” Trump said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed the Pentagon to pay out $2.6 billion as a “one-time basic allowance for housing supplement to all eligible service members in pay grades O-6 and below,” a senior administration official told CNN.
Roughly 1.28 million Active Component military members and 174,000 Reserve Component military members will receive this supplement, the official said. In Trump’s policy agenda that passed over the summer, Congress appropriated $2.9 billion to the Defense Department, which the White House has rebranded as the Department of War, to supplement the Basic Allowance for Housing entitlement, according to the official.
“This one-time payment exemplifies the Department’s ongoing commitment to improving the housing and quality of life for our military members and their families,” the official said.
CNN has reached out to Treasury Department for more information on the payments.
This story has been updated with additional details.
The-CNN-Wire
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