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Whoopi Implies ‘Warrior Dividends’ Are A Bribe To Troops

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Whoopi Goldberg
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President Donald Trump’s decision to send a one-time Christmas cash payment to U.S. service members has daytime television foes on “The View” questioning the motive behind what the administration has branded a “warrior dividend.”

During a nationally televised address Wednesday night, Trump announced that nearly 1.5 million members of the U.S. armed forces will receive a holiday bonus tied to the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.

The president said more than 1,450,000 service members would qualify for the payment, which amounts to $1,776 per eligible recipient and is scheduled to arrive by Saturday.

Trump described the initiative as a tribute to military service and a symbolic nod to the country’s founding nearly 250 years ago.

“And the checks are already on the way,” Trump said during his remarks, citing tariffs and the recently approved GOP spending and tax package.

“Nobody deserves it more than our military. And I say congratulations to everybody.”

The announcement quickly became a topic of debate on ABC’s daytime talk show “The View,” where co-host Whoopi Goldberg cast doubt on the intent behind the payments.

As the panel discussed Trump’s address, Goldberg suggested the bonus could be designed to secure loyalty from service members.

“What he’s doing is thinking, ‘If I make sure the soldiers have what they need, they’ll back me and what I want, see?’” Goldberg said on the program.

Her comments framed the payment as something more than a financial benefit, raising concerns about how the president might view his relationship with the military.

The discussion unfolded as other panelists reacted to both the scale of the payment and the timing.

Former Trump aide Alyssa Farah Griffin, now a co-host on the show, offered a more favorable assessment of the policy, even as broader criticism continued.

“This policy was the one thing I give him credit on,” Griffin said during the exchange.

Goldberg remained skeptical that the payments would even make it to soldiers’ bank accounts.

“I want to see them get it first,” Goldberg sniped.

Griffin countered by questioning whether one-time payments alone could address wider economic pressures facing the public.

“People need help, but all Americans need help right now, and just a handout isn’t the answer. Smart policies are,” Griffin said.

The conversation on the show moved toward speculation about Trump’s long-term intentions, with Goldberg appearing to suggest the president could be seeking unwavering military support for actions that might test constitutional boundaries.

Beyond the television debate, administration officials outlined how the “warrior dividend” would be funded.

The payments are set to come from money previously approved by Congress for military housing subsidies under the administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

According to a senior administration official, the funds originate from a $2.9 billion allocation approved earlier this summer to supplement the Basic Allowance for Housing entitlement.

A Pentagon official said Thursday that roughly $2.6 billion of that total would be used to issue the one-time payments to eligible service members.

The remaining $300 million will stay with the Department of Defense to support “future BAH requirements,” the official said.

Defense Department estimates show the payments will reach approximately 1.454 million service members.

That group includes about 1.28 million active component members and roughly 174,000 reservists.

While the cash payment dominated headlines, criticism from liberal commentators extended into another military-related controversy involving the Trump administration.

Some voices on the left reacted angrily to Netflix’s decision to cancel its military drama “Boots,” a series previously criticized by Pentagon officials.

“Boots” followed the fictional story of Cameron Cope, portrayed by Miles Heizer, a gay teenager from Louisiana who faces bullying before finding purpose and camaraderie among fellow recruits.

According to Netflix, the series depicted Cope’s experience joining the military in the 1990s under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

That policy barred openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual Americans from serving in the armed forces and remained in place from 1993 until its repeal in 2011.

The show premiered on Oct. 9 and focused on military life during that period.

In October, Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson sharply criticized the series in comments to Entertainment Weekly.

Wilson described the show as “woke garbage” and said military leadership would not alter its standards to accommodate ideological narratives.

“Under President Trump and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth, the U.S. military is getting back to restoring the warrior ethos. Our standards across the board are elite, uniform, and sex-neutral because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn’t care if you’re a man, a woman, gay, or straight,” Wilson commented.

After Netflix announced the cancellation, some social media users directed blame at Trump and Defense Secretary Hegseth, accusing the administration of influencing the decision.

One post on X claimed, “Boots was critically and commercially successful, but because the President and his Secretary of Defense are such man baby snowflakes who are mad gay service men are more manly than they’ll ever be Netflix cancelled the show so they could get the WB merger to go through.”

Another message read, “Netflix has cancelled their show Boots after 1 season. … Despite a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes & making it to #2 on Netflix, they’d rather lick Trump’s balls to get their merger approved.”

Discussion on “The View” later shifted back to the White House, where co-host Joy Behar criticized Trump over plaques installed beneath portraits of his Democratic predecessors at the newly unveiled White House Presidential Walk of Fame.

Trump introduced the plaques earlier this week, including pointed descriptions of former presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama.

“When are they going to invoke the 25th Amendment? Does he have to run naked into the White House or what? What is that amendment for if not for this?” Behar questioned.

The 25th Amendment outlines the constitutional process for presidential succession and the transfer of power when a president is unable to carry out official duties. It applies in cases of death, resignation, or incapacity.

Behar focused particular attention on the wording beneath Obama’s portrait, which labeled him divisive and referenced the Affordable Care Act.

“I want to read what he says about Barack Obama because we love Barack Obama, and it’s wrong of him,” Behar remarked as the liberal audience applauded.

“He writes and he acts like this is real and history. ‘A community organizer, a one-term senator from Illinois and one of the most divisive political figures in American history.’ Why, because he was Black?”

Co-host Sunny Hostin added that Obama lives “rent-free” in Trump’s head, while Griffin suggested the plaques were meant to provoke a reaction.

Trump was simply trying to “trigger and outrage people,” Griffin said.

The full episode can be viewed here:

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