WASILLA, Alaska — As President Donald Trump has crisscrossed the country in recent weeks, he has offered voters a variety of financial rewards before the midterms: $500 Obamacare “refund” checks, $90 to seniors to offset Medicare premiums and $5,000 for every American adult — called the “Trump Dividend” — if Republicans retain control of Congress.

On Tuesday, the president added another giveaway to his midterm gift basket: pardons.

With Republicans’ political fortunes declining, Trump has stepped up his Oprah-style handouts to voters in an effort to eke out any last votes he might be able to find for endangered Republicans.

As evidence of the difficult electoral landscape, top Republican super political action committees aligned with Trump cut off financial support this week for two Republican House members seeking reelection in an effort to prevent more losses.

After all, Trump was in Alaska to help Republicans in a state he won by large margins in the last three presidential elections, including by more than 13 percentage points in 2024.

So in the middle of his rally in Wasilla, Alaska, the president called up two young men to join him onstage. Also joining them was Natalie Harp, the president’s personal aide, who carried two black folios.

The two men, Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, pleaded guilty to modifying diesel vehicles in violation of the Clean Air Act. A third, Michael Hanzuk II, also pleaded guilty. The Department of Justice said the three men, co-owners of Arm Rippin Toys, removed emission control systems that are designed to reduce pollutants being emitted from vehicles.

But the president framed the men’s actions as helping their neighbors fix engines so they would survive cold weather. He said he read about their cases and decided all three deserved pardons.

“That means you’re as clean as a newborn baby’s ass,” he said to the two men standing behind him. “I never understood that. Why is that so clean?”

He added: “I love doing this stuff. This is worth the eight hours in the plane.”

Trump then ushered Fleming to the lectern to address the crowd.

“Well, I’m not too good at this but he asked me to say something,” he said. “This means the world to me. It really did destroy us. It destroyed friendships. It destroyed families. We’re not criminals. We’re not trying to hurt anyone. We want to help Alaskans.”

Czubak then stepped up to the microphone: “Cut to the chase here and let’s reelect Dan Sullivan. Let’s reelect Nick. Let’s get it done,” he said referencing Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich, the two incumbent Republicans on the ballot next month.

The free giveaways started with Trump floating the $5,000 payout at the midterm convention he demanded his party throw last month in Dallas. The proposal immediately drew bipartisan criticism, with Democrats accusing him of trying to buy people’s voters and some Republicans panning it as a socialist-style giveaway. The feasibility of the proposal is also in question, as it would cost more than $1 trillion and likely require congressional approval.

Even some of Trump’s supporters on Tuesday were skeptical of the electoral benefit of the giveaways.

“There’s probably an amount of skepticism about it now, but we’ll see how it does,” Frank Tomaszewski, a Republican state representative in Alaska, said of the proposed $5,000 checks. “We really need to consider all the amazing things President Trump has done for Alaska.”

Tomaszewski said he has not heard any voters bring up the $5,000 or other financial bonuses from the White House.

“That’s not what’s concerning them,” he said, noting that the high cost of energy was at the top of voters’ minds.

Dez Martinez, 61, an Anchorage resident, also said the $5,000 payout was not a motivating factor for him. But he did appreciate the public pardons.

“They were arrested publicly,” he said. “He did a great thing to show they did something good.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Tyler Pager/Doug Mills
c. 2026 The New York Times Company