Anadolu Ajansı © 2026
A first-of-its-kind Republican midterm convention wrapped up Thursday night in Dallas, Texas, with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance seeking to energize the party's voter base ahead of the November midterms.
The party is seeking to retain its majorities in both the US House of Representatives and Senate, with Trump addressing the audience both days of the convention.
As he delivered his closing remarks, he reiterated his earlier $5,000 dividend proposal, offering to pay each American adult if Republicans retain control of both chambers of the US Congress.
He also revisited his Day 1 message for Republicans to "pretend I'm on the ballot" and vote on Nov. 3 as if they were voting during a presidential election, touting a booming stock market and an immigration policy that has sharply reduced illegal migrant crossings into the US.
Day 2 of the midterm convention did not come without controversy, as a protester waved a Mexican flag during Vance's keynote address, prompting a harsh response from the vice president that fired up the crowd.
"Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there. I'll buy you a plane ticket," Vance told the protester, who was also carrying a Palestinian flag, according to news outlets.
The midterm convention was organized by the Republican Party to try and buck the historical trend of the opposing party winning the midterms against the party of the sitting president.
Democrats are challenging to flip at least one, if not both, of the congressional chambers in November to halt unilateral Republican passage of legislative bills and policies.
Trump called on Republicans to approach the upcoming midterms as if they were a presidential election year.
"Please pretend that I am running," he said.
While that approach did not come as a surprise, a potential $1.35 trillion offer to Americans did. Trump introduced a proposal that he would pay every adult American citizen $5,000 if Republicans maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
"Here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000," said Trump.
Doing the math would entail giving roughly 270 million adults $5,000 each, totaling approximately $1.35 trillion, nearly equaling the United States' already staggering budget deficit of $1.8 trillion, according to USAFacts which tracks the US budget deficit.
In addition, any payment program of that magnitude would require congressional action and specific distribution and qualification details before it could be implemented.
Democrats scoffed at the offer.
"The dividend is not happening," said US Rep. Robert Garcia, calling the president a "known liar."
"(Trump) promised a dividend on tariffs. That didn't happen. He promised a dividend on DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency). That didn't happen," Garcia continued. "There's no one in the country that thinks somehow this new dividend is actually going to happen."
Even some fellow Republicans, like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, rebuked Trump's $5,000 offer to each adult American citizen.
"If you are getting surplus revenue, you should cut people's tax and return it to the people," said DeSantis. "What I don't think you want to do is borrow another $1.5 trillion, and then just try to flood that into the economy, because it will lead to more inflation. That will lead to more debt and more inflation."
This novel two-day gathering was not seen as an opportunity to reach independent voters, but rather to reignite Republicans' enthusiasm to head to the polls in November, as Trump voters tend to go to the polls in presidential elections but not in midterms, according to political experts.
Trump acknowledged that the sitting president’s party typically lost in midterms, but told convention attendees: “We’re going to change that.”
Vance took the spotlight on Day 2 of the Republican midterm convention, focusing on the importance of maintaining the party's control in both the House and Senate.
The vice president's keynote address was interrupted by a protester waving a Mexican flag, to which Vance clapped back, taking aim not only at the protester, but at the Democratic Party.
"We just discovered the symbol of the far left," which is an "idiot" waving a Mexican flag "when he should be waving the flag of the United States of America," Vance told the crowd after his speech was disrupted.
The interruption came as the vice president was talking about birthright citizenship, arguing that the Republican Party was fighting to preserve opportunities for future generations.
Trump signed an executive order after his inauguration in January 2025 that would limit birthright citizenship to children with parents who are either American citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States.
The US Supreme Court ruled that the order was unconstitutional as the battle over birthright citizenship continues to play out in the courts. Trump signed revised orders in August but they were quickly hit with fresh injunctions.
Vance and Trump have also locked in on the Republican Party's mission of mass deportation of undocumented migrants during the first 19 months of Trump's second term in office, drawing nationwide protests from immigrant advocacy groups.
After the protester was escorted out, Vance praised the Trump administration for its approach to immigration, with the vice president telling the crowd that while the demonstrator was waving a foreign flag, Republicans would continue "to wave the American flag and fight for the American dream."
"We have to remind ourselves tonight that the good life that is the foundation of this country's promise is not guaranteed," said Vance. "We have to remember that a safe home, a good school, a happy family, a future that is better than the past, every generation of Americans has had to fight for these things when it's our turn."
Trump wrapped up Day 2 of the midterm convention by reemphasizing his Day 1 offer of the so-called "Trump dividend" of $5,000 to each adult US citizen if Republicans maintain control of both the House and Senate, telling the crowd to "go out and vote."
"You got to do me the biggest favor you've ever done," Trump told the crowd of his request for them to cast their ballots on Nov. 3. "You've got to do this for me."
The president made attendees repeat his pledge to get out and vote during the midterms.
"I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States ... I'm going to get my friends, my family, and we are going to vote on Nov. 3, or we're going to vote before that," Trump instructed.
"I don't care if I'm registered or not. I'm going to try and cheat like hell, like they do," Trump quipped, referring to Democrats.
After repeating the pledge, attendees were given one last message from the president: "You know what happens if you don't vote? You go to hell."
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