Convention aims to rally MAGA base

Trump tells supporters to pretend he's on ballot

By: Joey Garison
and Zac Anderson
USA Today

DALLAS - President Donald Trump worked to rally his loyal base on September 9 [2026] during a first-ever Republican midterm convention in Dallas, attempting a rescue mission to energize his party and stop a Democratic takeover of Congress.
..... His efforts included an extraordinary offer: If Republicans retain control of the House and Senate, Trump said he would issue $5,000 dividends to all American adults.
..... Trump spoke like he was at one of his won campaign rallies - touting the record number of votes in Texas, his tariffs and his administration's efforts to seal the southern border - yet the mission was to boost Republican midterm candidates in danger of losing in November. [2026] His address ran a whopping one hour and 45 minutes.
..... After entering American airlines Center to loud cheers and chants of "USA," Trump quickly declared the arena "packed"and claimed people who couldn't get in were standing outside. But large sections of seats remained empty across the venue's upper level.
..... Though the president's unpopularity in polls threatens to drag down some Republican midterm candidates, he called for his supporters to come out in numbers that twice catapulted him into the White House.
..... "I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot, Trump said. "I'm on the ballot just one more time."
..... Trump also was scheduled to speak on September 10. [2026]

$5,000 election wild card

..... Trump's brazen promise to pay every adult American $5,000 if Republicans keep control of the House and Senate could roil the midterms, injecting a controversial new wild card with less than two months until election Day.
..... The move was sure to spark criticism that the president was paying Americans to vote Republican as the party struggles to match Democrat its' enthusiasm and faces a challenging midterm outlook.
..... "If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000. It will be called the Trump dividend," the president said, adding the caveat that the money must be spent in the United States. "Now all we have to do is win."
..... Trump said the dividend is possible because of the "tremendous strength and success" of the American economy, through he did not say how it would be paid for or how much it would cost.

Democrats balled 'communists'

..... Midterm convention speakers kept coming back to the same descriptions to label the other side - radical, crazy "communists" who hate the country.
..... "The Communist Party -excuse me, the Democrats - have no leader and they have no message," said House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota. "the only thing they can agree on is their disgusting hatred of America and our great president. These people are sick."
..... Republicans' push to paint democrats as extreme leftists comes amid the success of several self-identified democratic socialist candidates in primaries this election cycle. Most Democratic candidates in close midterm races have not embraced socialism on the campaign trail, however.
..... "Georgia never elected a senator who coddles to Marxists and terrorist sympathizers, but boy do they have one now," said Georgia Representative Mike Collins, the Republican nominee for the state's Senate seat, referring to his opponent, Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff.

'Trumpalooza' lives up to billing

..... If there was any doubt about the two-day Republican midterm convention being a "Trumpapalooza," the scenes in side and outside the arena made it clear: This is a Trump show.
..... Republicans filtering in for the first day of the convention walked past a vendor selling Trump golf balls, Trump rubber ducks, Trump Bibles, MAGA guitars, and plenty of MAGA hats as a country band played amid sweltering 97-degree Texas heat, An outdoor vendor called the "47 Make It Great Again Grill" sold burgers to attendees.
..... Inside the arena, pictures of Trump hang everywhere on the arena walls and inside the elevators.

Fetterman's surprise appearance

..... Democrats chose not to hold their own midterm convention to counter the Republicans; gathering, opting instead to save resources and deploy Democratic National committee officials to Dallas to shadow the event.
..... Camped out across the street from the arena, Democratic leader sat a news conference accused Republicans of using the convention to try to hide Trump's record on the war with Iran and his handling of the economy.
..... "This bizarre Republican midterm convention here can't paper over the fact that Republicans have done nothing to earn your vote," said Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, whom Democrats dispatched to be the face of the Democratic response.
..... But in a surprise move, one of their own - Democratic Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman - appeared in a video that aired at the convention. It it, Fetterman introduced Pennsylvania's other senator David McCormick, to the stage
..... "Yes, I'm a Democrat. why am I here talking to you today?" [09/09/2026] Fetterman asked in the video as he stood in front of a steel mill. "Because while I'm a common-sense Democrat, I'm always going to sand with America. I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism, and that anti-American way of life.

Speakers avoid subject of Iran war

..... As the U.S. military escalates strikes again on Iran, convention speakers repeatedly skipped any mention of a war that is weighting on the GOP heading into the home stretch of the midterm election.
..... The war was briefly brought into the convention hall in a one-minute video, but the only speaker eager to talk about the conflict was Trump.
..... "Oil will be going down as soon as we win the war with Iran, which is taking place," Trump said.

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