A “warrior dividend” of $1,776 is on its way to service members, President Donald Trump announced in a speech Wednesday evening.
Because of money received from tariffs this year, along with the One Big Beautiful Bill, he said, “more than 1,450,000 service members will receive a special warrior dividend before Christmas.”
The $1,776 is “in honor of our nation’s founding” 250 years ago in 1776, he said.
“Nobody deserves it more than our military,” Trump proclaimed.
Information was not immediately available about whether the money will come in the form of checks, or whether it will be deposited directly into service members’ accounts, as their pay is.
CNN reported that a senior administration official said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered defense officials to pay out $2.6 billion as a one-time basic allowance for housing supplement to all eligible service members in pay grades O-6 and below.
Over the last several years, lawmakers and defense officials have taken steps to address some financial issues for service members, such as providing a massive targeted salary hike for about 500,000 troops E-4 and below in 2025 — increasing their base salaries by 10% above the annual military-wide pay adjustment.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book “A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families.” She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.