Donald Trump urges crowd to pledge to ‘greatest president’ and jokes about cheating as midterm convention wraps
Donald Trump urged thousands of Republicans to pledge their support and vote for him in November.
He made a joke about “cheating” during the closing night of the GOP’s first midterm convention in Dallas on Thursday, September 10.
Trump asked attendees to raise their hands and repeat a pledge: “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 November 3, or we are going to vote before that.”
Trump tells Republicans they could ‘go to hell’
Trump then joked, “I don’t care if I’m registered or not. I’m going to try and cheat like hell, like they do.”
After the crowd completed the pledge, Trump turned his attention to those who might skip the election. “You know what happens if you don’t vote? You go to hell,” he said.
This moment marked the conclusion of a two-day gathering focused on the 2026 midterms. Trump used the convention to urge Republicans to maintain control of Congress.
Trump repeats $5,000 ‘dividend’ pitch
Trump reiterated a major proposal from his Wednesday speech: a potential $5,000 payment to American citizens if Republicans perform well in the midterms.
“In 19 months, I’ve delivered on every single promise I’ve made,” Trump said, repeating the “Trump dividend” proposal. Legal experts have criticized the idea.
“The primary legal threat is 18 U.S.C. § 600, which criminalizes promising government benefits made possible by Congress as a reward for supporting a political party,” Thomas Logan, a U.S.-Asia relations specialist and strategist, wrote on X.
Political writer Mona Burns described Trump’s promise as a “bribe.” Trump continued to promote the proposal during his final appeal to the Republican crowd.
He also highlighted his administration’s accomplishments, such as lower prescription drug prices, increased military spending, and reduced illegal border crossings.
Trump warns what Democrats could do
In the convention’s closing moments, Trump characterized a Republican loss as a threat to his agenda.
He warned that if Democrats regain power, they would “confiscate your wealth” and reverse policies such as tax breaks on tips and overtime.
He also claimed Democrats would “set loose criminals to rob, r*** and kill like we had just two years ago.”
He said his party “took that dark age of America and turned it into the golden age of America.” He also claimed to have made America “the energy and military superpower of the world.”
The event was part of Trump’s effort to support Republican candidates ahead of a challenging midterm environment, where presidents’ parties have historically lost congressional seats.
J.D. Vance invokes Charlie Kirk
Vice President J.D. Vance addressed the political consequences of the war with Iran, which has contributed to higher inflation and energy prices.
He invoked the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated one year earlier.
“What I’m asking you to do is do what Charlie did. Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don’t give the country over to a bunch of crazy people because you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here or there,” Vance said.
Vance delivered the keynote speech before Trump took the stage and received one of the loudest reactions of the night after confronting a protester waving a foreign flag. “Get your a** over there,” Vance told the heckler.