Trump jokes $5,000 would buy 'a hamburger and maybe a small dessert' at Mar-a-Lago as cost of living looms over midterms

President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable in the East Room of the White House in Washington, Oct. 21, 2026.Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty ImagesPresident Donald Trump joked that the $5,000 payments he's promised U.S. adults would buy little more than "a hamburger and maybe a small dessert" at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, a week before midterm elections dominated by voters' concerns over affordability. Trump has pledged $5,000 to every adult citizen if Republicans win both the House and Senate, specifying the money must be spent in the U.S. "Go to Florida, go to any one of our great places. You can even come to Mar-a-Lago," Trump said at a rally in Texas on Tuesday. "The problem is that for $5,000, the most you'll be able to buy is a hamburger and maybe a small dessert." The president also joked that, "I'm not even sure you could buy that. No, don't go there. That's not a good place if you're price-conscious."Cost of living has been the dominant issue heading into the Nov. 3 vote, with 84% of U.S. adults surveyed in an AP-NORC poll earlier this month naming it among the most important issues in deciding their vote, and 79% disapproved of Trump's handling of it. Polls broadly sho...