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."
You can watch what happened next in the video below.
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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.
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