Promises of economic prosperity were at the center of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. During the first year of his term, inflation has stayed elevated and the job market has weakened in the wake of his tariff plan. In recent months, the stock market is up, gasoline prices are down and tech companies are placing large bets on the development of artificial intelligence. But the unemployment rate has increased from 4% in January to 4.6%.
Trump also announced a new “warrior dividend” for 1.45 million military members. The amount of $1,776 was a reference to next year’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The $2.6 billion for the checks is coming from $2.9 billion Congress appropriated to the Pentagon to supplement housing allowances in the federal budget this year, multiple news outlets are reporting.
Trump suggested that his tariffs — which are partly responsible for boosting consumer prices — would help fund the payments.
“Eleven months ago, I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” Trump said during Wednesday’s address. “We’re poised for an economic boom, the likes of which the world has never seen.”
What else is impacting southern Ohio?
• National Defense Authorization Act: The U.S. Senate advanced legislation that authorized $900.6 billion for defense programs, including millions for projects at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The measure, which now heads to the White House for approval, includes $8 billion more than the total requested by President Donald Trump for this year’s NDAA. Ohio Sen. Jon Husted said $15 million was also secured to design and restore Wright-Patterson’s primary runway. “You can’t have a first-class Air Force base without a first-class runway. That’s exactly what we need to preserve at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,” he added.
• Air Force One contract: President Trump will wait another year on the delivery of the updated Air Force One/VC 25B presidential plane, aircraft overseen by personnel at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. This month, the Air Force awarded a $15.5 million modification to its existing contract with the Boeing Co. for the VC-25B program. The estimated delivery for the first VC-25B aircraft is in mid-2028.
• VA jobs: The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to eliminate roughly 25,000 open and unfilled positions, mostly pandemic-era roles that department leaders deem no longer needed. A department spokesperson said this days after the Washington Post reported that up to 35,000 mostly unfilled VA jobs will be eliminated nationally. A VA spokesperson told the Dayton Daily News that the Post’s story was “highly misleading,” and said the VA has asked the Post for corrections. The Dayton Daily News sent a message to the Post.
Other federal updates:
• ACA: Four centrist Republicans broke with Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday and signed onto a Democratic-led petition that will force a House vote on extending for three years an enhanced pandemic-era subsidy that lowers health insurance costs for millions of Americans. The move came the same day that Republican leaders pushed the passage of a health care bill that does not address the staggering monthly premiums that millions of people will soon endure. Ohio’s congressional delegation voted along party lines, with all 10 Republicans supporting the GOP measure and all five Democrats arguing instead for extended subsidies.
• Venezuela: House Republicans rejected two Democratic-backed resolutions that would have checked President Donald Trump’s power to use military force against drug cartels and Venezuela. Congress has questioned how the U.S. military is conducting a campaign that has destroyed 26 vessels allegedly carrying drugs and killed at least 99 people. The legislation would have forced the Trump administration to seek authorization from Congress before continuing attacks against cartels that it deems to be terrorist organizations or launching an attack on Venezuela itself.
• Travel ban: Africa has been the hardest hit by the Trump administration’s decision to add 20 countries to a list of travel restrictions. The new restrictions expand on the list from June and are broader and more punitive than those during Trump’s first presidency, which largely targeted Muslim-majority countries and which were reversed in 2021. Trump’s expanded measures also link entry limits to security, documentation and visa-overstay concerns.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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