Donald Trump went back to the place where he says his political rise began — deep-red Mobile, Alabama — and the scene was a lot different this time.
The arena was only a fraction of the size of the stadium he packed in 2015, but even the smaller venue had conspicuously empty sections Friday night. Trump was there to rally Republicans ahead of the midterms and urged Alabama voters to “pretend I’m on the ballot.”
And then, just hours later, he announced another round of checks for Americans.
In August 2015, when many people still dismissed his presidential campaign as a long shot, roughly 30,000 people packed a Mobile stadium to see him. Trump has repeatedly pointed to that rally as an early sign that his campaign was about to break the rules of presidential politics.
On Friday, he returned to the city and reminisced about those days.
“I’m really here because, sometimes, you’ve got to pay respect to the people that loved you right from the beginning,” Trump told the crowd. “I don’t know if you know. It sort of all began here.”
He later recalled: “We packed the stadium and the rest was history, right here in Mobile.”
Well, history looked considerably different Friday night.
The rally was held at the University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Center, a roughly 10,000-seat basketball arena. The venue was nowhere near the size of the 2015 stadium, and images from Friday showed large sections of empty seats, particularly in the upper levels.
The symbolism was difficult to miss. Trump returned to the place he considers the birthplace of his political movement, only to find himself speaking to a much smaller crowd in an arena he couldn’t completely fill.
At the rally, Trump announced that more than 20 million Medicare enrollees will receive a one-time $90 payment to help cover their Medicare Part B premiums.
The White House says the payments will begin in early October and will come from the Medicare Improvement Fund, a $2 billion fund created by Congress for improvements to the Medicare fee-for-service program. Most eligible recipients will receive the money by direct deposit, while others will get checks.
Trump called the fund a “slush fund” in his announcement and accused Democrats of using it for “waste, fraud, and abuse.”
The announcement comes just one month before the November midterms.
And it isn’t the only check Trump has put on the table.
The administration has already begun sending $500 ACA refund checks to nearly 1 million people in 30 states. The payments are accompanied by letters from Trump touting his record and saying the money is being returned to Americans who were allegedly overcharged through the Affordable Care Act.
The timing has drawn criticism from Democrats and others who argue that putting Trump’s name and political message alongside the checks makes the payments look like an election-season political tool. Reuters reported that the payments are going to people in states with competitive November races.
And then there’s the really big promise.
Trump has repeatedly pledged a $5,000 “dividend” for every adult American if Republicans retain control of the House and Senate.
He repeated that promise in Mobile on Friday.
The proposal would cost well over $1 trillion. One estimate puts the price tag at roughly $1.35 trillion, and Trump has not provided a detailed funding plan.
So, one month before Election Day, Americans are hearing a familiar message: Vote Republican — and there could be money coming your way.
But Trump’s own voters are worried about the economy.
The bigger problem for Trump isn’t simply the size of a rally. It’s what people are saying about their wallets.
Kris Rouse, a 76-year-old three-time Trump voter interviewed in Mississippi, said she is “very disheartened” with the president.
“Most of the things that he said were going to happen have not happened,” she said, citing higher gas prices, groceries and property taxes.
Rouse, who spent 33 years working at a bank, now works part-time at a Waffle House because she needs the income.
And when asked about Trump’s promised $5,000 payment, she wasn’t exactly counting on it.
“Nope,” she said. “I don’t think we’re going to get anything else from Trump.”
Even some Trump supporters are openly worried about gas prices.
MAGA influencer Adam Francisco, who was traveling the Gulf Coast to rally Trump’s supporters, acknowledged that rising fuel costs could become a problem for Republicans.
“If he doesn’t get them down by between now and Nov. 3, I’m going to say that I’m a little concerned about the Republicans’ chances,” Francisco said. “I’m not in denial about it.”
At a gas station in Pearlington, Mississippi, a woman working behind the counter said she had never paid so much to fill her truck and estimated that some people in the area had turned against Trump.
That is the backdrop for Trump’s latest cash announcement.
He returned to Mobile hoping to rekindle the energy of the rally that helped launch his political career.
Instead, he found himself in a smaller arena with empty sections — and once again talking about checks to sway voters to vote Republican.
