“Tonight, I am also proud to announce that 1,450,000 military service members will receive a special, we call, a warrior dividend before Christmas,” Trump said in his televised speech.
“In honor of our nation’s founding in 1776, we are sending every soldier $1,776,” Trump added. “Think of that, and the checks are already on the way.”
Trump attributed the windfall to increased revenue from tariffs he raised beginning in April.
“We made a lot more money than anybody thought because of tariffs, and the bill helped us along. Nobody deserves it more than our military, and I say congratulations to everybody,” Trump said.
In most of Wednesday’s prime-time address, Trump argued that wages are up and inflation is down. He said gas prices have fallen to the lowest average price in 1,741 days and “Americans are on track to spend the lowest amount of their disposable income on gas in the last two decades.”
Introducing the (tax free!) Warrior
— Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (@SecWar) December 18, 2025
Dividend. pic.twitter.com/TwisOihBc5
In a video posted on X Thursday, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said every member of the military, ranked E-1 to O-6, will receive a one-time, tax-free benefit.
“So to the American warrior, President Trump and I, and the entire War Department, we have your back. We thank you for your service, we thank you for your sacrifice, we love you and your families, and we wish you a very Merry Christmas,” the secretary said.
“The secretary of war has directed the department to pay eligible service members in grades O-6 and below a lump-sum, non-taxable Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) supplement of $1,776,” a Pentagon official told the Dayton Daily News. “This payment will be made outside of the regular pay cycle.”
Before the Trump administration offered a deferred resignation program to federal employees this year, Wright-Patterson had about 38,000 military and civilian employees. One estimate was that 15,000 to 16,000 of those were civilians.
Questions were sent to the offices of U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Jon Husted.
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