WASHINGTON (States Newsroom) — President Donald Trump headlined the first night of the first Republican midterm convention Wednesday, seeking to rally his base ahead of the November elections and dangling a “Trump dividend” to voters if his party retains control of both congressional chambers.
While the Republican National Committee’s two-day event — dubbed a “Trump-a-palooza” by party Chair Joe Gruters — aimed to bolster support for major candidates, some vulnerable Republicans were notably absent.
Still, speaker after speaker, including Republican lawmakers, Cabinet members and people billed by the RNC as “everyday Americans,” filled five hours before Trump took the stage and promised, “Vote Republican and we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come.”
“There’ll be nothing like it,” Trump said during a nearly two-hour keynote address in which he touted the “greatest two years in the history of the presidency.”
The event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, which did not include voting delegates, is the first major-party midterm convention since Democrats’ convention in 1982. Democrats also held convention-like conferences following the 1974 and 1978 elections.
The GOP convention comes amid sagging poll numbers for Trump as his war with Iran drags on and voters worry about inflation driven by increasing energy costs and tariffs.
Financial incentive
Trump acknowledged political challenges without attributing them to the unpopular parts of his agenda.
“For some reason, when a president wins, even if he’s really a good president or a great president — there aren’t too many of them — they don’t win the midterms, and nobody quite knows why,” he said. “We’ve got to change that because we have something going that’s so good we can’t let that string be broken. So I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot.”
Trump said if Republicans retain control of both the House and Senate, he would pay out $5,000 “to every adult.”
“The only caveat I have is that the dividend that we’re making must be spent in the United States of America. We don’t want you going to Canada to spend the money,” he said.
This is not the first time Trump has promised to send checks. The president said in November 2025 he would send $2,000 to Americans from tariff revenue that he falsely said would reach “trillions” of dollars.
Those payments never materialized and Trump’s emergency tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court. The government is now on the hook for refunding American businesses that paid the import taxes.
Trump announced he’ll be campaigning for nearly three dozen Republican candidates in competitive races over the next 55 days.
“We can win every one of those races, but I’m going to go to every one of those states for congressmen and for senators,” he said.
Collins, Sullivan absent
In perhaps the night’s most surprising turn, Democratic Sen. John Fetterman made an appearance in a video praising fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican, and vowing to work with Trump to shore up the steel industry.
But two of those most vulnerable Republican senators were missing from the more than three dozen speakers Wednesday night.
Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Dan Sullivan of Alaska, both locked in tough reelection bids, reportedly declined to attend. Neither Collins’ nor Sullivan’s campaigns or Senate offices replied to States Newsroom’s requests for comment.
Sullivan’s campaign posted several images and videos of the senator in Alaska Wednesday.
Collins posted a message of support for the New England Patriots on her X feed as the RNC event was in full swing. The made-for-TV political gathering aired the same night as the NFL’s season kick-off between the Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
An analysis by CNBC on Wednesday found fewer than half of Republican candidates in the most competitive congressional districts were slated for speaking roles during the two-day event.
Crowd boos Thune
But many Trump allies running for reelection spoke, and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, sat in a row with Vice President JD Vance and several Cabinet members.
Attendees cheered when Trump said Johnson “will go down as the greatest speaker of the House in the history of our country.”
But a chorus of “boos” erupted when the president asked where Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota was in the crowd.
“No, no,” Trump responded to the booing. “John is working hard. He’s got great opposition.”
Thune and Trump have been at odds about the Senate taking up a strict election bill that would require voters to provide a birth certificate or passport to register to vote, among other provisions.
Unlike other Republican leaders from both chambers, Thune was not scheduled to speak at the convention.
An individual close to Thune told States Newsroom the majority leader is in Dallas and wanted to give other Republicans an opportunity to speak.
‘We’re so glad you’re here’
Several Trump allies, even those facing tight or toss-up races, spoke in praise of the president while stumping for their own candidacies.
Former RNC Chair Michael Whatley, running for an open Senate seat in North Carolina, and Sen. John Husted, fighting to keep his seat in a special Ohio election, praised Trump for passing tax cuts.
The North Carolina seat is rated “lean Democrat,” by the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, and the Ohio seat rated a “toss up.”
While both Whatley and Husted mentioned their opponents and former President Joe Biden more times than they did Trump, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for U.S. Senate, did not shy away from lauding the president.
“We’re so glad you’re here,” said Paxton, who unseated longtime Sen. John Cornyn in a Republican primary after receiving Trump’s endorsement.
“The press, the courts, and the establishment all tried to take President Trump down, but he’s won every single time. He’s delivered more for this country than anyone before, secured victories for America that no other president could, and always stood up for Texas,” Paxton said.
Attendees waved “Keep the Majority” signs and chanted “USA” while House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., railed against Democrats, and said “We will not let the Marxists, communists and anarchists destroy it.”
“This historic midterm convention is rallying Republicans at the perfect time because so much is on the line this November,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican.
‘A party for Donald Trump’
Democrats panned the event as an expensive celebration for the president.
“While Republicans spend millions of dollars throwing a party for Donald Trump, Democrats are spending our time and resources doing the work that wins elections: Talking to voters, registering new ones, organizing communities, and fighting for every vote,” Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement Wednesday.
“The difference is stark,” he continued. “As Republican candidates worship an unpopular president, Democrats are going on offense and staying focused on lowering costs, making life more affordable, and delivering for working families.”
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