During a chat about Trump’s plan to give women $5,000 after they give 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡, Alyssa Farah Griffin surprised her The View cohosts and the audience by defending the move.
Things took a turn on The View during a chat about President Donald Trump’s proposed “𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 bonus” of $5,000 for women to boost 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 rates after co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin—a former Trump administration appointee who bowed out in 2020 and condemned his supporters’ attack on the U.S. Capitol—defended the move.
Earlier, The New York Timesreported that the Trump administration “has been hearing out a chorus of ideas in recent weeks for persuading Americans to get married and have more 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren” and that one proposal shared with aides “would give a $5,000 cash ‘𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 bonus’ to every American mother after delivery.”
Moderator Whoopi Goldberg said she is “incredibly insulted” by the White House’s proposal, saying members of the Trump administration “don’t know how women’s bodies work, and they don’t know what it costs to raise a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 or just have a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥.”
WHITE HOUSE CONSIDERING PLAN TO BOOST FERTILITY RATES: With the president considering a $5,000 bonus and other post-natal perks to incentivize women to give 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡, ‘The View’ co-hosts question if this will this deliver for millions of American families. pic.twitter.com/0De65BoQQc
— The View (@TheView) April 23, 2025
Goldberg’s remark prompted co-host Sara Haines to call efforts to boost 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 rates “like putting a band-aid on a deeper problem,” pointing to the lack of paid family leave, subsidized 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥care, and the U.S.’s staggering maternal mortality rate—“55% higher than the second place.”
Haines noted the first year of raising a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 costs “a conservative estimate” of $16,000 and added, “It’s just not touching the surface.”
And when co-host Joy Behar proposed taxing billionaires to fund social services rather than pushing women to have more 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren, Griffin defended Trump, noting he “has actually floated” that idea himself:
“I actually generally support this policy, that may surprise you guys. The number one concern I hear from young people is that they want to have kids, but they don’t know if they can afford it.”“And we could argue over whether or not it’s enough, the $5,000, but both Italy and France do this. You get a one-time payment when you have a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥.”
Griffin also claimed that “out-of-pocket costs for delivering a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥” were under $5,000, suggesting any leftover funds could be placed in a savings account for the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 to access at age 18, adding:
“We also have policies like this in place. We have the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 tax credit, which gives you a tax credit back for the number of 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren you have, and the earned income tax credit.”“Because of this idea that our social safety net—so Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid—rely on the younger population keeping up with the older population so they can pay into it.”
Griffin supported the 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 bonus plan with the caveat that it should include all new parents, not just 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 mothers, but Goldberg rejected it, criticizing the administration for cutting women’s benefits and arguing that “$5,000 sounds like a lot,” but it doesn’t help if families can’t meet basic needs.
When Griffin asked, “Isn’t something better than nothing?” Goldberg shot back with an emphatic “no, not in this case.”
And after Griffin said “if Biden proposed this, we’d all be saying it’s groundbreaking,” Goldberg shut her down:
“No. I’m sorry, I don’t like the idea that somebody is saying, ‘I’m gonna pay you to have more kids.’”“Let me just tell you this. $1 billion in funding for schools and food banks to buy food was cut. Withdrew funding for investigating 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝓈ℯ𝓍ual abuse and internet crimes against 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren—cut. Fired the entire staff running a program to help low-income households pay their heating and cooling bills.”“My point is, it seems to me that everything this administration seems to be doing is telling people not to have 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren. Why not make sure that kids that we already have have a shot at good schooling? Why not? If you want people to have 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren, you have to not scare them by cutting all these programs that they may need.”
Others also criticized Griffin and the Trump administration’s proposal.
The news about the proposed “𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 bonus” comes at the same time as a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed the U.S. fertility rate last year rose slightly to 54.6 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡s per 1,000 women of reproductive age—a modest increase of less than 1% from the record low in 2023 and still significantly below rates seen in previous years.
Trump called the $5,000 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦 bonus proposal a “good idea,” offering his support, while House Speaker Mike Johnson labeled it “creative.” But on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are more focused on cutting social programs like Medicaid and food assistance—even as they seek to extend Trump’s previous tax cuts, which had doubled the 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 tax credit to $2,000
Some Trump administration officials are already advancing policies aimed at boosting family growth. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a father of nine, issued a memo prioritizing transportation funding for areas with higher 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 and marriage rates—potentially shifting resources from urban transit to rural highways.
Meanwhile, the White House is expected to release a report by mid-May outlining proposals to make IVF more accessible and affordable, fulfilling a campaign promise to lower costs despite few specifics so far.
