President Trump speaks on stage on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention, September 9, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images To encourage voters to vote Republican, President Trump used his convention speech to promise a $5,000 dividend to every adult citizen if the GOP maintains control of Congress in the midterm elections. “If the Republicans win, you will win with us and you will receive $5,000,” he said. “It’ll be called the Trump dividend, congratulations.” The money would have to be spent in the United States, the president said. Trump did not provide details about where the money would come from or the legality of his promise. According to the most recent census data, providing these payments could cost $1 billion or more. The event is designed to drum up support for Republicans in the midterm elections, where they face an uphill battle to maintain control of Congress. He said the midterm elections will decide whether the country stumbles or moves forward, adding that he will travel to “every election” to show his support for Republican candidates, and for Texas even more than once. Trump’s endorsement and his asking voters to “pretend” he’s on the ballot could backfire given his unpopularity amid the war in Iran and the national focus on affordability. “Vote Republican and we will leave the world in the dust for generations to come,” Trump said. Aside from the $5,000 pledge, Trump’s speech wasn’t much different from his typical rally speech, touching on topics he talks about often, including tariffs, the importance of destroying Iran’s nuclear program, passing a bill to limit voter identification and registration rules, and claiming that inflation was lower than when he took office. It was a night when Trump was the star of the show. The event, billed as a “Trumpapalooza,” put the president center stage as Republican candidates, lawmakers and ordinary Americans shared their appreciation for Trump and his policies. President Trump greets attendees as he takes the stage to speak on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention, September 9, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images “Let’s hear it from the man who had the vision to hold this convention,” Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said to widespread applause. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, also began by praising President Trump for standing up for Texas. Paxton addressed the economy and promised tax-cutting policies to help American families. He also called for more support, acknowledging that his opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, has the monetary advantage. “I need your prayers, your vote and your support,” Paxton said. “If we lose Texas, we lose the common sense revolution. If we lose the common sense revolution, we lose America.” Republican Texas Senate candidate Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton takes the stage on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention on September 9, 2026 in Dallas, Texas. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Rep. Brandon Gill, who represents a district north of Dallas, said this election is about “the mainstream versus the extremes.” Gill, one of the speakers who gave the longest speech on Wednesday, returned several times to address transgender issues, a culture war issue that has been especially prominent in Texas politics. “I think we can all remember the good old days when political debates revolved around marginal tax rates and government spending,” Gill joked. “We are now debating whether young boys can become transgender, whether men can get pregnant, and whether your daughter should share a locker room with a man.” Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke about the Trump administration’s policing agenda. “President Trump will hold them accountable,” he said. “If you choose violence, you will be held accountable. That is making America safe again.” Before Blanche, no sitting Attorney General had spoken at a political party convention, House Democrats said Tuesday Political parties typically hold large televised presidential nominating conventions every four years, but this is not a presidential election year. And midterm conventions simply don’t exist (at least not since Democrats scrapped them after a brief stint in 1982). It would be reasonable to ask why Republicans, trying to preserve their slim majorities in the House and Senate, would want to focus so much attention on a president whose approval rating is below sea level. People hold signs on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention, September 9 in Dallas, Texas. President Donald Trump will headline the Republican National Committee’s first midterm convention Wednesday night. Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images hide title toggle title Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images At a recent campaign rally, Trump laid out the theory of the case. “The problem we have is they say Trump does very well when he’s on the ballot,” Trump said, speaking in the third person. “But when he’s not on the ballot, his people don’t come and they don’t vote. “So what I really want you to do is pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot,” Trump said at the rally for South Carolina Republican Sen. Darline Graham, who is running for his seat this fall. “Just come and vote. It’s very important.” But this isn’t just an appeal to Republican primary voters in a runoff in a deeply red state. In swing states and battleground districts, Trump and his advisers are trying to rebuild the coalition of voters who propelled him back to office in 2024, voters who don’t always show up if there’s no presidential race at the top of the ticket. This is a different approach than that taken by most presidents whose parties face political headwinds in a midterm year. But the President Trump has never been one to follow the normal rules of politics. Convention organizers say the meeting in Dallas will focus on the issues that will shape the midterm elections, including lowering the cost of living and raising incomes, securing the border and protecting American values, according to an NPR analysis, using racial ratings from the Cook Political Report, less than half of the Republican candidates in competitive House and Senate races are listed as convention speakers. Iowa, when asked by reporters at the Capitol about his plans for the convention. He is in a re-election race. But if the White House is concerned about attendance, Vance does not hint: “The president and I can go and do it.” [the] argument on national television,” Vance said at a White House news conference last week. “We don’t need a congressman in a close race to be there every time.” There’s also a question of who will be watching. The convention will face the NFL’s season opener on Wednesday night, a rematch of this year’s Super Bowl between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots. There’s also a prime-time football game on Thursday night. Democrats are not planning their own convention. and the counterprogramming will be quite limited. “Most elected officials don’t even want to attend. [presidential nominating conventions]”said John Anzalone, a Democratic pollster and consultant. “I mean, the conventions’ expiration date passed a long, long time ago.” And, he maintains, the war in Iran, unpopular tariffs, high gas prices and broader concerns about affordability mean the political environment “is disastrous for Republicans running for office and this Republican convention is not going to change that narrative one bit for the midterm elections.” Party Chairman Ohio Republican Alex Triantafilou said he had no problem finding people interested in But the state party was also allocated far fewer tickets than it would get for a traditional presidential convention. “We were told from the beginning that we could use this as an opportunity to rally the troops and raise some money for the party and those two things have certainly happened,” Triantafilou said. He said the state party is using the convention to excite rank-and-file Republicans and hopes the president will visit Ohio again sometime before the election. “We talk a lot about low-propensity voters and how to vote. No one creates low-propensity voters in Ohio like the president.” Whether this new midterm approach will bear fruit remains to be seen, but some Republicans say it may be the party’s best chance to limit its losses in what is expected to be a difficult year for Republicans. “Pretending to run before President Trump and defend his record, I think, is an interesting strategy and I think it’s so interesting that it could work,” said Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, a Republican group. “We’ve tried to run away from the president before. “The midterms and we almost always lose.” Schilling will be at the convention and says he expects many of his friends involved in Republican politics to be there, too. He hopes they come out energized and ready to push a focused message heading into the midterms. NPR’s Eric McDaniel contributed reporting to this story.
