Trump promises $5,000 to ‘every adult citizen’ if Republicans win the midterms
‘I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot,’ the president said at the Dallas convention, portraying himself as the only person capable of leading his party to victory in November
US President Donald Trump had promised that Wednesday’s event at the Republican convention in Dallas would be a rally “like no other.”
During a speech that lasted nearly two hours — most of which sounded like nothing that hadn’t been heard before — he didn’t fulfill that promise, but he did make another one. He said he would give $5,000 “to every adult citizen in the United States of America” if voters allow the Republicans to retain control of both houses of Congress in the November midterm elections, in which, according to the polls, things aren’t looking good for his party. Trump issued a condition: “We don’t want you going to Canada to spend the money,” he said in reference to the ongoing trade war with Ottawa.
It is unclear whether the pledge would be legal. Nor is it immediately obvious where Trump would source the more than $1 trillion that this populist, election-driven gambit would cost the coffers of a superpower whose debt, according to the Treasury Department, amounts to $40 trillion.
The marquee appearance of the convention’s opening night — “the first ever midterm convention of any party,” Trump claimed — had been billed for 8:00 p.m., and it was at that hour that the president’s longtime warm-up act, country singer Lee Greenwood, came out to sing God Bless the U.S.A. To the strains of that patriotic ballad, the main figure of a convention dubbed Trumpapalooza took the stage at the Dallas Mavericks arena. The president convened the event months ago to help the party in the midterms, yet dozens of candidates in competitive districts decided to skip it so Trump’s unpopularity would not rub off on them.
“When I’m on the ticket, Republicans always do very well,” said a more energized than usual Trump. “For some reason, when a president wins… even if he’s a really good or great president, they don’t win the midterms. We’re gonna change that.” Although the November 3 vote puts the entire House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate up for grabs, and the president himself is not running, Trump placed himself at the center of those contests. “So I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot.” Trump highlighted 35 key contests and said: “We can win every one of those races, I’m going to every one of those states for congressmen and for senators.” “If we hand America’s future to the radical-left Democrats it will be a tragedy,” he added.
Besides firing up his base, he used his speech to repeatedly vow that, as in earlier times, he will tirelessly work to “defeat communism,” to thank his most loyal aides for their service, to defend his administration’s accomplishments on irregular immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border, and to repeat familiar talking points and worn jokes that the audience greeted like viewers watching reruns of their favorite sitcom.
He attacked the mainstream media, that industry of fake news he despises but seems to desperately need; assailed “radical left lunatics”; and joked about a group of women who regularly attend his rallies, suggesting their husbands are jealous of him.
New America
Trump also took the opportunity to repeat his false claim that he won the 2020 election, floated his latest idea — that the state of New Mexico be renamed New America — and indulged his obsession with attendance numbers. He said the stadium was full, although the upper stands looked half-empty, and lied when he claimed the same number of people were outside, waiting for someone to give them their seat. The truth was the concourses were only partially busy at that point in the convention’s opening day, at the end of a five-hour marathon of speeches.
“This has been the most successful two years financially and every other way in the history of the presidency,” he asserted, despite figures that contradict that claim and high living costs, an unpopular war with Iran (which he promised would end “right after the elections”) and rising gasoline prices that have hit his popularity ratings.
He also devoted himself to championing a personal cause: Ken Paxton’s bid for the Senate seat from Texas, a candidate in whom only Trump — and the convention attendees — seem to have confidence. “We have to get him to win,” he said of a race in which Paxton is facing off against the young Democrat James Talarico, whose style could make him the first progressive Texas has sent to the Senate in Washington in three decades.
Of Paxton, he also repeated a running sartorial joke, pretending to skip his prepared text. “Some may not like the way he dresses — although tonight he looked very spiffy in his blue suit, I must tell you. I don’t. They may not like the way he talks. I can see that. I’ll be coming back to Texas, because we have to elect Ken Paxton,” he said of the Republican candidate. “If I have to, I’ll come back twice or three times. You’ll say, ‘Get this guy out of here!’”
Attendees followed the speech with delight. They chanted “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”, applauded nonstop, cheered when the speaker vowed to keep bombing Iran, gave standing ovations and laughed like family members listening to an incorrigible relative who can’t help saying inappropriate things. Among the most celebrated jokes were those aimed at Talarico (whom he repeatedly called “Talafreako”) and at Venezuela, which Trump said had been added to “our little stockpile.” “We’re more powerful now than OPEC,” he added.
“On Election Night we’re going to prove America does not belong to people who hate it. It belongs to those who love it,” he promised in the final stretch of a speech that lasted more than an hour and a half. After he passed the 80-minute mark, he noted that “nobody” had left the stadium while he spoke. “It’s a great tribute to Trump… Everybody loves me and I love everybody," he exclaimed.
Trump also found time to remember Charlie Kirk, the MAGA youth activist who was shot dead at an event at Utah Valley University on September 10, 2025. As the image of his widow, Erika Kirk, was projected on the arena’s giant screens, the crowd chanted, “Charlie, Charlie, Charlie!” and Trump promised to “keep protecting” his family.
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