24-hour lightning "gift distribution"! Trump works hard to attract voters at year's end, targeting the military, civil servants, cannabis, and the aerospace industry.
Within about 24 hours, U.S. President Trump launched several initiatives to benefit the public in quick succession. He announced a “Warrior Bonus” of $1,776 to active-duty military personnel, granted federal government employees an unprecedented two extra days off for Christmas, and signed wide-reaching executive orders to relax marijuana regulation and restart the moon landing program.
These moves come as Trump faces the dual pressures of declining approval ratings and economic uncertainty. Ipsos polling shows his support rate has fallen to 39%. Republican strategist Annalyse Keller told Bloomberg TV that Republicans realize they face challenges concerning the cost of living and the upcoming midterm elections.
Trump also pledged to announce a housing reform plan soon. On Friday, his administration announced that nine pharmaceutical giants, including Novartis and Merck, reached an agreement on drug price discounts. This wave of policy releases is seen as an effort to reverse unfavorable public opinion and build momentum for the 2026 midterm elections.
Housing, energy prices, and the cost of living are expected to be core topics for the 2026 congressional midterms. If the Republican Party loses control of one or both houses, Democrats will have greater power to investigate the White House and may even attempt a third impeachment of Trump.
$1,776 "Warrior Bonus" for Military Personnel
Trump announced in a nationally televised address on Wednesday night that 1.45 million military personnel will receive a special subsidy of $1,776 before Christmas, a sum symbolizing the founding year of the United States. He called this payment the "Warrior Bonus" and stated, "The checks are already on their way."
A senior government official later told the media that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has instructed his department to pay out $2.6 billion as a “one-time basic housing allowance” to all eligible military personnel ranked O-6 and below. About 1.28 million active-duty personnel and 174,000 reservists will receive this benefit.
Trump attributed this expenditure to extra income from tariffs, though he did not specify the source of the funds. The official revealed that, according to Trump’s policy agenda passed by Congress this summer, the Department of Defense was allocated $2.9 billion to supplement the basic housing allowance.
Federal Employees Granted Unprecedented Five-Day Christmas Holiday
On Thursday afternoon, Trump signed an executive order granting most federal employees two extra days off on December 24 and December 26. For many, this effectively creates a five-day holiday period, including Christmas Day and the weekend.
This is the first time in recent years that federal employees have received two extra days off around Christmas. Presidents typically approve leave for either the day before or after Christmas, but granting both days is uncommon.
The executive order states that all federal administrative departments and agencies will be closed on these two days, exempting employees from duty. Nevertheless, agency heads retain the authority to decide whether certain offices should remain open for "national security, defense, or other urgent public needs."
Last year, former President Biden gave federal employees only one day off on Christmas Eve. The last time Christmas fell on a Thursday was in 2014, when then-President Obama only approved leave for December 26. Bloomberg reported that this decision will not benefit most private sector employees; both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have confirmed that December 26 will be a regular trading day.
Policy Support for Marijuana and the Space Industry
On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to begin procedures to move marijuana from Schedule I (the strictest federal classification) to Schedule III. Marijuana is currently classified alongside heroin and hallucinogens as Schedule I substances; the change will classify it as a drug with recognized medical use and lower addictiveness.
When discussing the executive order, Trump said: “Many people have pleaded with me to do this—they have suffered tremendous pain for decades.”
The media learned that before making the decision, Trump consulted with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, and marijuana industry leaders including Trulieve Cannabis Corp. CEO Kim Rivers.
This decision marks a major victory for the marijuana industry. Reclassification opens doors for more clinical research and FDA-reviewed marijuana medications, and wipes out the punitive tax rule known as 280E, which prevents companies dealing with federally illegal substances from deducting ordinary business expenses for tax purposes.
On Thursday, Trump also signed an executive order aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon through NASA’s Artemis program. The directive reinforces NASA's plan to send Americans back to the Moon by 2028 and begin establishing a permanent lunar base by 2030. It also calls for developing capabilities to detect and track threats to the U.S. in low Earth orbit and cislunar space by 2028.
The order also calls for dissolving the National Space Council and transferring its powers to the Office of Science and Technology Policy. NASA's Artemis lunar program is expected to cost $93 billion by 2025 and has so far completed just one mission, with the first Moon landing repeatedly postponed.
Promises on Housing Reform and Drug Price Agreements
On Thursday, Trump pledged to announce a housing reform plan soon to address the worsening crisis of housing affordability. In his nearly 20-minute primetime televised speech Wednesday, he also claimed inflation "has stopped" and predicted "electricity and everything will soon be much cheaper."
However, the core consumer price index for November still rose 2.6%, a rate economists believe may be underestimated. Electricity prices rose more than 10% in the first eight months of 2025, one of the biggest increases in over a decade.
This Friday, major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the United States and Europe signed agreements with the Trump administration to voluntarily lower drug prices. The companies include Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi, Roche’s Genentech, privately held Boehringer Ingelheim, and Novartis.
This summer, the Trump administration sent letters to 17 pharmaceutical companies, demanding they lower costs for government insurance programs, offer medicines via Trump-branded direct-to-consumer platforms, and align future prices with overseas rates. In return, these companies would receive years of tariff exemptions and relief from some potential regulatory actions.
Novartis pledged to invest $23 billion in the U.S. over the next five years, while Roche pledged $50 billion. Previously, Pfizer and AstraZeneca secured tariff exemptions, but most companies that received Trump's letter have not announced agreements yet.
Electoral Challenges Amid Economic Pressure
Trump’s intensive policy push comes amid several challenges. On Tuesday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported nonfarm payrolls for November, showing the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%—the highest since October 2021—with about 7.83 million unemployed, significantly more than the same period last year.
Xinhua News Agency cited several recent polls highlighting the difficulties facing the Trump administration:
- A Politico poll found nearly half of respondents feel great pressure on food purchasing, utility bills, medical expenses, housing, and transportation.
- Reuters and Ipsos polls show only 33% of American adults approve of Trump’s economic policies, the lowest in his second term.
- According to NPR, about 60% of respondents feel pessimistic about next year, and over half believe America has already entered recession. Even Trump’s core "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) base support has dropped eight percentage points since April.
White House insiders told Politico that a consensus forecast has formed internally: Republicans may lose control of Congress in the midterms next year, partly because the Trump administration has not delivered on economic promises. Trump proposed even grander plans, such as issuing $2,000 checks to all Americans, permanently eliminating income taxes, and bringing interest rates down to zero, but none of these can be unilaterally enacted without congressional control or Federal Open Market Committee decisions.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner called Trump’s national address “a sad attempt at distraction.” Xinhua quoted the comments of U.S. economist Paul Krugman, noting that while it cannot yet be concluded the U.S. economy is in recession, some economic indicators now show “pre-recession” characteristics. The real situation does not match the economic picture painted by Trump.
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