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Once again on his party’s biggest stage, President Donald Trump put himself in the center of the midterms, urging his supporters to pretend “I’m on the ballot” in a bid to energize the GOP at the party’s midterm convention in Dallas.
“We’re running together,” Trump said. “This is the most important election of your lives.”
Here are some key takeaways from his speech and the first day of the convention:
‘I’m on the ballot, just one more time’
In an arena filled with photos from across his political career, speaking to his most loyal supporters, Trump urged his Republicans to defy the historic trend of the sitting president’s party losing seats in the midterms, touting his accomplishments, taunting Democrats and cajoling voters who tuned in.
“This has been the most successful two years, financially and every other way, in the history of the presidency,” Trump said.
He promised $5,000 direct payments to all American adults if Republicans keep control of both chambers of Congress, though the mechanism and legality of delivering on that promise are unclear.
Dark warnings about Democrats — with a surprise appearance
Republicans sharpened their closing message against Democrats, portraying the midterm elections as a binary choice between the GOP and what they described as an increasingly radical Democratic Party.
“This is an election between common sense and communism,” Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minnesota, warned.
“The Democrats’ extreme candidates will rip that heart out of our chest. They hate our culture, they hate what it means to be an American,” declared Sen. Tim Scott, R-South Carolina. “Hear me Dallas: not out our watch!”
And Trump warned that if Republicans lose in November, “You will be going through hell just like we did two years ago.”
“If they win, every bill becomes a ransom negotiation,” he said.
The most unexpected criticism of the insurgent left was not from a Republican, but from Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, who, in a surprise video appearance praising Pennsylvania GOP Sen. Dave McCormick, pushed back on his own party.
“I’m a common-sense Democrat. I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life,” he said.
Some vulnerable Republicans stick close to Trump
Sen. Susan Collins, the only Republican running for reelection in a state won by Democrats in 2024, was home in Maine on Wednesday.
But more than a dozen Republicans in battleground districts traveled to Texas for the convention.
Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin touted the $50 billion rural healthcare fund Trump created in the GOP tax law to offset cuts to Medicaid.
“I worked with President Trump” on health care funding, he said.
Rep. Rob Bresnahan, a freshman running in Pennsylvania’s competitive 8th District, didn’t mention Trump by name, but vowed to fight to protect temporary tax relief for overtime from Democrats.
For many House Republicans, embracing Trump is a bet on the president’s ability to energize the low-propensity Republican voters that powered him to victory in 2024.
RELATED: Trump says oil prices that spiked because of Iran war likely won’t come down until after midterms
“Nobody has brought more enthusiasm to the Republican Party in 40 years,” Texas Rep. August Pfluger told News.
With an outside political group with $400 million in the bank and a willingness to boost allies and target critics, Trump remains a GOP kingmaker for anyone hoping to win a Republican primary.
“We take care of our bad people,” Trump said Wednesday. “We really take care of our good people.”
Republicans make few mentions of Iran war, but Trump leans in
The unpopular war in Iran was not mentioned by any Republican speaker on the first night of the convention — until Trump took the stage.
“If we didn’t hit them with our beautiful … B-2 bombers, they would have a nuclear weapon right now, and I would be addressing them as Supreme Leader,” Trump said.
Though the conflict and its impact on the economy loom over the midterms and threaten Republicans’ chances in November, the president repeatedly defended his decision to attack Iran.
“It happens to me all the time. Guys come up, ‘You know I wish you didn’t do the war in Iran. Gasoline’s up,’ and I say … ‘Let me ask you one question: Can Iran have a nuclear weapon? Absolutely not,'” he said to applause.
Trump also suggested Iran is prolonging the war to impact the midterms, and mused on renaming the Strait of Hormuz.
“We’re going to name it the Trump Strait,” he said.
Trump acknowledged the affordability concerns troubling voters, blaming Democrats for the challenge. And he vowed to aggressively campaign for Republicans down the stretch.
But he also strayed from the GOP midterm message with comments about the White House ballroom project, the physical appearance of the Texas Senate candidates and what he considered to be the worst trades in sports history.
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