By Nandita Bose, Steve Holland and Nathan Layne
DALLAS, Sept 9 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would pay every American adult a $5,000 “Trump dividend” if Republicans retain control of Congress in November’s midterm election, an extraordinary attempt to persuade voters to back his party.
Trump made the proposal at his Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention, but it was not immediately clear how the payments would work or whether they would be legal. With approximately 270 million U.S. adults, the idea would cost around $1.35 trillion.
During a primetime address that lasted an hour and 45 minutes, Trump boasted of completing “the greatest two years in the history of the presidency,” putting himself squarely at the center of the election despite his deepening unpopularity.
But it was not clear whether his campaign-style speech would appeal to the critical swing voters who opinion polls show have drifted away from Trump’s party, amid growing dissatisfaction with the cost of living and the war on Iran.
“We hand America’s future to the radical left Democrats, and our nation will spend the next decade just getting back on its feet,” he said. “Vote Republicans and we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come.”
The two-day Dallas gathering, where Trump will also deliver the closing remarks on Thursday after Vice President JD Vance’s keynote address, underscores the extent to which Republicans’ fortunes are tethered to Trump and serves as a showcase for their strategy ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.
The event was so centered on the president that Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters informally dubbed it “Trumpapalooza,” a nod to the popular Lollapalooza music festival.
The focus on Trump amounts to a risky bet that he can mobilize the voters who carried him to the presidency two years ago, despite public polls showing his approval ratings have hit an all-time low. The president vowed to pay multiple visits to battleground states and districts in the eight weeks until Election Day.
“I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot,” Trump said, a line that may have pleased Democratic campaign strategists just as much as MAGA voters.
The convention presented a tough choice in particular for Republicans facing difficult elections who may need to distance themselves from the president to broaden their appeal but cannot afford to alienate Trump’s most committed supporters.
Many such Republicans skipped the convention, including Representative Tom Barrett of Michigan, Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Senator Susan Collins of Maine, all facing strong Democratic challengers this fall.
Some, however, elected to travel to Dallas. At least 16 candidates in competitive House and Senate races were scheduled to speak, according to the RNC schedule. Among those who spoke on Wednesday were Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a close Trump ally who is locked in a tough Senate race with Democratic lawmaker James Talarico, and Ohio Senator Jon Husted, who faces former Senator Sherrod Brown.
Though Trump insisted the 21,000-seat arena was “packed,” the upper sections remained largely empty during his speech capping Wednesday’s program.
DEMOCRATS PORTRAYED AS ‘SOCIALISTS’ AND ‘COMMUNISTS’
While Republican officials had described the convention as an opportunity to tout Trump’s policies, most of the early speakers focused largely on attacking Democrats as extreme on topics such as transgender women in sports and border security – political red meat for the base.
Issues that voters have consistently cited as top concerns, the Iran war and the cost of living, received comparatively less attention.
Alabama state Representative Ernie Yarbrough, a convention attendee, said Trump needs to give voters a clearer sense of how long the war in Iran could last and what the administration’s aims are.
“People want to feel like we’re not getting stuck in an endless cycle,” he said.
Trump defended his decision to attack Tehran, saying he acted to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. He also promised that oil prices would drop “as soon as we win the war with Iran,” which he vowed would happen soon.
But the conflict shows little sign of ending more than six months after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran, and analysts have said Iran’s nuclear program has not been eliminated. Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon.
Before Trump took the stage, a parade of speakers called Democrats “socialists” and “communists,” echoing one of Trump’s favorite attack lines following a handful of victories by democratic socialists in Democratic primary elections.
Democrats are “dangerous, radical and weird,” said Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chairman of the party’s Senate campaign arm.
Wednesday’s program also featured a surprise pretaped video from Democratic U.S. Senator John Fetterman, who introduced his fellow senator from Pennsylvania, Republican Dave McCormick, as his “great friend” while declaring he would work with Trump to protect the state’s steel industry.
Fetterman’s extraordinary participation appeared likely to emphasize the ideological divides plaguing the Democratic Party ahead of the midterms. Fetterman, who has increasingly clashed with left-wing Democrats, has denied speculation that he may leave the party.
The convention’s stakes are high for both parties. With the elections less than two months away, Republicans face the prospect of losing control of at least one chamber of Congress, with public polling showing Democrats more motivated to vote and Trump’s approval ratings deeply underwater.
The event faced stiff competition for viewers with the start of the NFL season, with opening night coinciding with a Super Bowl rematch between the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks.
Still, after months of negative headlines over the Iran war and inflation, many Republicans see the gathering as their best chance to promote candidates, draw contrasts with Democrats and energize a Republican electorate expressing less enthusiasm about voting than Democrats, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne, Nandita Bose, Steve Holland and David Morgan; Additional reporting by Kanishka Singh, Trevor Hunnicutt, Jessica Koscielniak and Jasper Ward; Writing by Joseph Ax; Editing by Ross Colvin and Howard Goller)
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