Donald Trump’s promise to send American adults a $5,000 “Trump Dividend” if Republicans retain control of Congress deserves more than ridicule from Democrats.

There are plenty of reasons to question the proposal. Trump has not provided a detailed mechanism for delivering the payments. Congress would have to act and Republicans themselves are divided over the idea. The estimated cost is well over $1 trillion, raising legitimate concerns about deficits, interest rates and inflation as the war in Iran rages on.

Also, Republicans already control Congress and could simply act on this now if they wanted too. But Democrats should be careful not to assume that any of these facts matter to struggling Americans.

Trump has repeatedly demonstrated an instinct for economic policies that are exceptionally easy for voters to understand and voters have consistently shown they don’t care about the details. Consider “no tax on tips” and the Trump tariffs he campaigned on in 2024. The tariffs have failed and raised costs on working families while straining small businesses and rural America just as Democrats said they would.

Taxpayers have lost more due to tariffs than have been collected from foreign governments despite Trump’s claims that America has taken in trillions of dollars in revenue. And similarly no tax on tips has not lived up to what was promised. Republicans enacted a temporary deduction for qualified tipped income as part of their 2025 tax legislation. The policy is more limited than the slogan suggests.

Eligible workers can deduct up to $25,000 in qualified tips from federal taxable income but that’s subject to income limits, and payroll taxes still apply. That ultimately doesn’t put much income back into the pockets of workers who rely on tips to make ends meet.

But politically, the simplicity of the messaging on tariffs and tips is the more important point. “No tax on tips” tells a waitress, bartender or other tipped worker immediately what Trump says he wants to do for them. And tariffs were the solution to the problem of foreigners “ripping off” American workers frustrated because their wages aren’t rising fast enough.

The $5,000 dividend takes tariffs and tips messaging another step further.

Trump is offering voters a proposition requiring almost no explanation. The message is simple. Republicans keep Congress and American adults get $5,000.

Democrats should scrutinize the facts without getting so lost in the policy that their messaging misses the economic pain working class families are experiencing.

Rather than mocking Trump, Democrats should ensure voters know what their plans are for direct economic relief.

Even a bad Trump plan beats no plan from Democrats. Democrats should remember that the working class experiences the economy personally. They know what groceries cost. Thy know their rent or mortgage payment.

They know what they earn every two weeks. They certainly understand what an additional $5,000 would mean to their household. And they are willing to take another chance on Trump because he’s put direct payments into their bank accounts before.

During the COVID-19 crisis, Trump signed legislation authorizing direct payments of up to $1,200 per eligible adult, followed by another round of payments before he left office. The direct relief was wildly popular even as Americans were skeptical of Trump’s overall handling of the pandemic.

Trump understands the political power of making economic policy concrete, even if there is no plan to actually get it done.

“No tax on tips” is concrete. A COVID stimulus check is concrete. A $5,000 dividend is concrete. Tariffs are concrete. The fact that none of these policies are effective or realistic doesn’t matter.

The lesson here is that Democrats need an economic agenda whose benefits voters can identify as readily as Trump’s.

If Democrats believe Trump’s $5,000 promise cannot be delivered, they should explain precisely why. If they believe it would worsen inflation or explode the deficit, they should make that case. But they also need to answer the question sitting underneath the appeal of Trump’s proposals which is how will Democrat policies put direct relief in the pockets of working families.

The answer to Trump cannot be an academic political science course in how the payments will never happen, nor should Democrats laugh it off. Trump’s proposal may ultimately prove impossible to enact but that doesn’t eliminate the political appeal to working class families who feel abandoned by the Democratic Party.

That is the larger lesson of the COVID checks, tariffs, “no tax on tips” and now the proposed $5,000 Trump Dividend.

Americans are deeply anxious about the cost of living and the party that can translate economic policy into benefits ordinary people can see, understand and feel has an important advantage in communicating its agenda.

Democrats should take that lesson seriously, even if they don’t take Trump’s $5,000 promise at face value.

Kevin Harris is a Democratic strategist who has advised over 100 campaigns and ballot measures, including the past five presidential elections, served in the Obama Administration, as a cabinet member for two big city mayors and state attorney and Executive Director of the Congressional Black Caucus.