Five takeaways from opening night of first-ever GOP midterm convention

The first night of the Republican Party’s unprecedented midterm convention on Wednesday evening featured an unexpected appearance from a Democratic senator, a rousing speech from President Donald Trump, and boos for one of the GOP’s top leaders.

The two-day event at the American Airlines Center is the first of its kind and has been touted as a way to rally the base ahead of the midterm elections, when Republicans are hoping to stave off losses in the House and Senate.

Fetterman shocks with video appearance

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) sent waves through the crowd when he introduced his “great friend” Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) as a speaker at the convention. The move marked Fetterman’s latest act of rebellion against his party and comes as he had denied speculation that he’ll join the Republican Party due to his disagreement with loud socialist and anti-Israel voices on the Democratic side.

“I have this opportunity to introduce this great American, a great senator, and yes, he’s in a different party, but I’m proud to count him as my great friend,” Fetterman said. “Yes, I’m a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I’m a commonsense Democrat. I’m always going to stand with America. I’m always going to reject the extremes in socialism and that anti-American way of life.”

Trump mocks Paxton but vows to campaign for attorney general

The president walked out onto the stage to a rendition of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” as thousands chanted “USA.” He quickly spotted the infamous group of female Trump admirers who follow him around the country, telling the crowd they’ve been to 217 rallies.

“They’re beautiful. They have wonderful husbands, but I never see the husbands. I think you’re driving your husbands crazy,” Trump laughed. “No, they’ve been fans right from the beginning.”

The president again riffed when he weighed in on the Dallas Mavericks trading Luka Doncic, joking that he would redo it, and floating it as one of the worst trades in sports history before putting it behind the Babe Ruth trade.

Another memorable moment came when Trump ripped Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is in a tight Senate race against James Talarico, for his style. The president said his staff tried to talk him out of ridiculing Paxton’s dress but he overruled them, though he complimented the attorney general for looking “very spiffy in his blue suit.”

“I have to say this about Ken. It’s so insulting, and I hope he doesn’t get insulted. They said, ‘Sir, you can’t say that.’ I said, ‘I have to.’ They didn’t even put it on the teleprompter, but I don’t use the teleprompter that much,” Trump said. “Because the fact is that some may not like the way he dresses. I don’t. Although tonight he looked very spiffy in his blue suit. I must tell you. But they may not like the way he talks. I can see that.

“He may not dress right. He may not talk exactly perfectly, and he may not be the best-looking guy I’ve ever seen, but you know what he is? He’s the greatest attorney general in America, and he deserves to be your next senator,” the president continued. “I’m so sorry. He’ll never speak to me again, but that’s OK. We have to. But he’s a great guy, and I know for a fact because he fought with us so much.”

President Donald Trump arrives at the Republican convention Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Throughout his remarks, the president expressed hope that midterm conventions will “become a staple in the years to come” and reiterated his pledge to personally campaign for candidates in 35 races ahead of November, asking voters to overturn the historical trend of dealing the ruling party losses in the midterm elections. “There’s no reason — it’s something deep down and psychological,” Trump said, telling voters he’s asking them “to pretend that I’m on the ballot.”

Trump pitches $5,000 dividend if GOP wins both chambers

Trump threw in some red meat for the base, inviting boos from the audience when he ripped some Democrats for supporting biological men in women’s sports. He pressed for a return to “common sense,” slamming Democrats for voting against his landmark One Big Beautiful Bill Act tax cuts last year, and blasting the growing socialist movement as he decried the Democratic Socialists of America for supporting efforts to abolish the police, prisons, thenSenate, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The president continued to harp on his moves to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America” and the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” On Wednesday evening, Trump also announced hopes to rename the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East as the “Trump Strait” and pitched a “No Invasion of Our Country Act” to make it legally impossible for any future president “to destroy our country by having the right to open the border again.”

But one of the biggest announcements of the night came when the president pledged to give every U.S. adult a $5,000 dividend if Republicans win the elections in November and preserve majorities in both chambers of Congress. Trump claimed the “tremendous” economy he said he has created would pay for “the Trump dividend” and said its only condition would be for recipients to spend it in the United States.

“If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our tremendous economic success, like in history, we’ve never had anything like what’s happening. But because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Trump said. “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.”

Trump claimed the dividend would follow his implementation of a historic economy. He said his second term so far has proved “the most successful two years financially and every other way in the history of the presidency.” Trump said when the “two-year number comes out, that number could be $25 trillion being invested” in the U.S.

“Together we will turn a two-year comeback into a 250-year lead, where nobody’s ever had a start. It’s not even two years, but we have more money being spent from outside countries and companies over $20 trillion. That’s five, six, seven times higher than any country ever, not just here, any country ever,” the president said. “Nobody’s ever seen anything like it ever, and it probably will never happen again. And I want you to remember me in four or five years when this country is rocketing. Remember, I’m the one that got it started.”

Trump continued to attack Democrats for making affordability pitches a central part of their argument to voters that change is needed in Congress this November.

“They started screaming at me. It’s a word they use, ‘affordability.’ They said, ‘What about affordability?’ And I said, ‘What about affordability? Tell me.’ They said, ‘Eggs are up four times since your administration.’ I said, ‘Well, I didn’t really know that. I just got here like today. It’s my second day.’” Trump recounted.

Boos for Thune

Despite being one of the top Republican leaders in the U.S., the crowd broke out in boos when Trump recognized Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) on Wednesday evening.

The president has expressed displeasure at times with Thune, in part over dissatisfaction that legislation such as his SAVE America Act, which is a voter ID bill, hasn’t been passed in the upper chamber. But as Thune battles to keep his narrow majority in the Senate ahead of November, Trump sought to mend fences at the convention, giving him a shoutout.

The move only invited boos from the audience.

“No, no, John is working hard. He’s got great opposition. He’s got great opposition from the Democrats,” Trump said. “Schumer and these guys, they’re terrible. He’s got great opposition. He’s working very hard. He’s going to have great success. You watch. We are going to have great, great success with our Republican senators. And by the way, we have great Republican senators.”

Defending Iran war against Democrats’ affordability attacks

The Iran war, now past the six-month mark, has loomed over Republicans ahead of November. Democrats have sought to use the conflict to boost their argument that the president is more focused on foreign wars than boosting the economy in their affordability pitch to voters.

While most speakers at the convention steered away from referencing the war, Trump spoke at length about the conflict, defending his decision to first strike Iran in February due to his concern that the country was about to build nuclear weapons. He revealed that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asked him to hold off on the strikes “a little longer,” but recounted how he told the secretary “no, because if we don’t hit them now, they’re going to have a nuclear weapon within one month.” The decision to strike Iran was made after the U.S. was told by Iranian leadership that it had enough enriched uranium to make 11 nuclear bombs within 10 days, according to Trump’s team. 

“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. … I’d be saying, ‘Mr. Supreme Leader, how are you, sir? Is there anything we can do for you,’ as opposed to bombing the crap out of them,” Trump said. “You know, the places we bombed would have been turned into nuclear weapons. I call it nuclear dust right now, but the nuclear dust can get very violent, and we hit them really hard. We did an amazing job.”

TRUMP ELECTRIFIES HIS BASE, BUT THE NOSEBLEEDS ARE EMPTY. IS IT ENOUGH TO WIN THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS?

The president admitted that “all the time” people come up to him complaining that the war in Iran has spiked gas prices, saying they wish he hadn’t started the conflict. But Trump pushed back, saying preventing Iran from seeking to build nuclear weapons is worth the cost, and arguing that prices are still down.

“We got eggs down lower than during my administration, and food prices and almost every other item are rapidly going down. And by the way, oil will be going down as soon as we win the war with Iran, which is taking place right now. We’ll win it. We’re winning it. We control the Hormuz Strait,” he said.

Share this article:

Facebook

Twitter