President Donald Trump keeps reaching for dramatic campaign gimmicks, but voters appear increasingly unwilling to play along. Neither the promise of $5,000 checks nor talk of banning diesel exports has transformed the Republican Party’s grim prospects before November.

At the Republican Party’s midterm convention, Trump promised that every American adult would receive a $5,000 check if Republicans retained control of Congress. Although 99.99% of people could use that money, Republican candidates are not featuring the proposal in speeches, television advertisements or social media videos.

The silence surrounding such a splashy promise is striking. Trump himself appears to have recognized that the idea landed like a lead balloon, even as he searches for another last minute maneuver capable of improving Republican fortunes.

His latest potential gambit is a temporary ban on diesel exports, an idea pushed primarily by Republicans in the Midwest. Unlike the check proposal, it at least attempts to address a genuine economic problem confronting voters.

Diesel prices are averaging more than $6.50 per gallon, their highest level in history. Those fuel costs affect the prices of nearly everything Americans purchase, giving Republicans an obvious reason to look for relief.

Yet a diesel export ban might not lower prices and could deepen the global energy crisis. A coalition of major business groups, including Big Oil, urged Trump to reject the proposal, while Energy Secretary Chris Wright also pushed back from within the administration.

That resistance has left the plan’s future uncertain. It may soon join a growing collection of Trump campaign gimmicks that either backfired or quietly disappeared when the promised political payoff failed to materialize.

Trump previously tried importing more beef from abroad as a way to lower grocery prices. Instead, the move enraged Republicans from farm states, while the loudly advertised $5,000 checks have already been pushed toward the political back burner.

There are two central reasons these tricks are not working. First, enough voters have grown familiar with the emptiness of Trump’s grand promises, particularly when his previous assurances collide with their daily economic reality.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump stood before a table loaded with groceries and declared, “When I win, I will immediately bring prices down, starting on Day 1,” He also promised, “I will cut the price of energy and electricity in half.”

Two years later, voters are treating another sweeping pledge with understandable skepticism. One poll found that only 13% believe Trump genuinely intends to send every American a $5,000 check.

The second problem is the electorate’s intense disgust with the president. Trump’s overall approval ratings are in the 30s, and some polls show a majority of voters strongly disapproving of his performance.

The latest Strength in Numbers/Verasight poll found that 50% of respondents strongly disapprove of Trump’s performance, compared with only 15% who strongly approve. Even the MAGA base is apparently having trouble maintaining its enthusiasm.

Finding a modern president disliked this intensely for an extended period requires comparisons with Richard Nixon during Watergate or George W. Bush amid the 2008 financial crash. In Trump’s case, the current malaise followed his own policies and decisions rather than an external event.

His “big, beautiful” bill cut taxes for the wealthy and removed millions of people from their health insurance as premiums continued rising. His tariffs and trade wars failed on their own terms and were rejected by the public.

Trump also promotes projects such as a triumphal arch that would do nothing to improve Americans’ everyday lives. His continued cheerleading for the technology industry, especially data centers, is unpopular across the political spectrum.

Most damaging is his deeply unpopular war with Iran, which continues while pushing gasoline prices higher. Together, these policies have created an atmosphere in which voters are too angry for another shiny gimmick to change their minds.

Trump does have one option that would positively affect Americans’ lives and perhaps ease some pressure on Republican candidates before November. He could end the war, but he will not do it.

Instead, Trump claims the Iranian regime will capitulate as soon as the midterms are over. Anyone buying that promise might as well start spending the imaginary $5,000 Republican victory check, because even Trump seems to know the outcome is probably set and the blame belongs to him.