Trump makes an extraordinary offer of $5,000 payments, and other takeaways from RNC convention’s first night

President Donald Trump vowed to pay every American adult $5,000 if Republicans retain their House and Senate majorities in November’s midterm elections – an extraordinary offer as he tries to keep his party in power.

But he offered no details on how he would pay for such a move, which he equated to companies paying shareholders dividends and the extra $1,776 checks his administration issued to members of the military last year.

“Here is my promise: If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them,” Trump said, “I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000.”

Trump’s pledge came in a speech to Republicans who gathered in Dallas on Wednesday for the first night of an unusual midterm convention.

The president is seeking to overcome lagging approval ratings , economic headwinds and historic trends against the party in power in his bid to retain the GOP’s majorities – and stave off a slew of likely Democratic investigations and fierce opposition to his agenda – for his final two years in office.

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Fact check: Trump makes numerous false claims in Republican convention speech

In a speech at the conclusion of the first of the convention’s two nights, the president mocked Democrats, calling them “dumocrats.” He touted his border security efforts and bragged about the political potency of his opposition to transgender women participating in women’s sports. And as his political operation begins spending tens of millions of dollars , Trump vowed to campaign hard for the GOP through November 3.

“I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot,” he said. “I’m on the ballot. Just one more time.”

Here are takeaways from the first night of the convention dubbed by the president’s supporters as “Trump-a-palooza”:

Trump told Republicans he would hit the campaign trail aggressively this fall, holding events with about 35 House and Senate candidates in competitive races as the GOP fights to keep its congressional majorities and Trump looks to buck the historic trend of poor performance by the sitting president’s party in midterm elections.

“We’re going to have rallies just like this. We’re going to have big arenas, loaded up with people,” Trump said.

He urged Texans to rally around Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general who ousted the more moderate Sen. John Cornyn in the primary. Trump’s endorsement played an important role in tipping the race in Paxton’s favor — but also set up a tough general election against the much better-funded Democratic state Rep. James Talarico.

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In a now-familiar riff, Trump mocked Paxton, even as he acknowledged that doing so was “so insulting.”

He said Texans “may not like the way he dresses. I don’t.” (He did compliment the suit Paxton wore Tuesday night.)

Trump also said voters “may not like the way he talks. I could see that, yeah.”

But, Trump said, Paxton is “maybe the top attorney general in the whole United States.”

“We have to elect Ken Paxton. We have to,” Trump said. “And if I have to, I’ll come back twice or three times.”

Several Republican senators in competitive races — including Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan — skipped the convention , seeking to showcase their independence from their party and president.

But a swing-state Democratic senator did make a virtual appearance.

Sen. John Fetterman recorded a video introducing his Pennsylvania colleague, Republican Sen. Dave McCormick. In the video, recorded outside a US Steel plant, Fetterman said he is a Democrat but rejects “the extremes of socialism” and “the anti-American way of life.”

Fetterman introduced McCormick as a “great American, great senator, and yes, he is in a different party, but I’m proud to count him as my great friend.”

The introduction highlighted one of the Senate’s odd couples — a friendship forged between two senators whose swing state seats are sure to be targets of the other party when they are next on the ballot: Fetterman’s seat in 2028; McCormick’s in 2030.

The Democrat’s introduction of the Republican received one of the biggest rounds of applause of the night. And Fetterman received a loud cheer again when McCormick asked the crowd: “How great is John Fetterman, right?”

Fetterman, in particular, has been the subject of speculation about a potential party switch in recent months. He’s been one of the most vocal critics of the progressive insurgency that has swept the party’s primaries this year.

He’s repeatedly rejected talk of a party switch – and addressed it again in a statement after the video aired.

“I’m a lifelong Democrat who votes overwhelmingly with my party – and should the Senate flip in November, I will still be the 51st vote that I ran on,” the statement said.

The war Trump launched with Iran has sent gas prices soaring. The price of oil hit $100 per barrel earlier in the day, for the first time since July.

Democrats have hammered GOP candidates on high costs. At the convention, Republicans did attempt to home in on a message of affordability, praising Trump’s 2025 tax law that included eliminating taxes on tips and overtime for eligible workers.

Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden, whose 3rd District seat is a Democratic target this fall, praised Trump’s tax cuts and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s rural health care funding.

“He is fighting to make quality health care a reality for everyday Americans,” he said.

Michael Whatley, the Republican Senate nominee in North Carolina who faces Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper in another key race, praised Trump for putting “thousands of dollars back into the hands of families and seniors.”

The most direct acknowledgement of the war in Iran and its impact on gas prices came from Trump himself, when he said prices would drop as soon as the United States wins the war. He then said the Strait of Hormuz should be renamed the “Trump Strait.”

Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic Senate nominee in Michigan, might have been the most frequently mentioned member of his party.

El-Sayed’s race against Republican former Rep. Mike Rogers is one of the most important Senate contests in November’s midterms — and perhaps the GOP’s best chance of flipping a Democratic-held seat. Democrats need a net gain of four seats to win a Senate majority.

“He hates part of his own state. He’s not sure Israel should exist,” South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said of El-Sayed in a fiery speech. El-Sayed is a critic of Israel’s war in Gaza following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attacks and declined to answer whether he believes the state of Israel has a right to exist, describing the question as a distraction.

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Republicans broadly sought to portray democratic socialists who have won a handful of House primaries and progressives like El-Sayed as anathema to American values — describing them as extremists, communists and terrorist sympathizers.

And they sought to tie the entire Democratic Party to progressive figures like El-Sayed, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar. All three are Muslim.

“This election is very clear: it’s the mainstream vs. the extreme. Because there’s another political movement in our country right now that doesn’t believe that America is or ever was great,” said Texas Rep. Brandon Gill, who has previously said Muslims should be banned from immigrating to the US. “They sometimes call themselves socialists, some even call themselves communists. But most of them simply go by Democrats.”

Republicans made clear that they see cultural issues — particularly Democrats’ positions around transgender Americans’ rights — as their strongest line of attack.

Republicans played a video mashup focusing on Trump’s push to bar “men from playing in women’s sports” that included podcaster Joe Rogan calling the move “common sense.”

They also highlighted Democrats’ past rhetoric about transgender people.

“James Talarico claims there are six genders. He believes God is non-binary. He thinks God needs special woke pronouns,” Scott, the NRSC chairman, said of the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas. Talarico on Wednesday told Fox News that he “missed the mark on some of (his) past statements,” including his comment on the number of genders.

Paxton, his rival, claimed Talarico “wants to transition your kids.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent lambasted Democrats who he said are “relentless in their pursuit to remake America in the image of every socialist hellscape of the last century.”

Most Republicans didn’t directly advocate for Trump’s efforts to ramp up deportations. But they portrayed Democrats as to blame for lax immigration enforcement under former President Joe Biden and for the crimes committed by undocumented immigrants.

Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, who is running against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, said Ossoff wouldn’t help him pass a bill named after Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant in 2024 — even though Ossoff voted for the measure, which was signed into law by Trump in 2025.

“He wouldn’t lift a finger to help me. He forgot her name until it was politically convenient,” Collins said.

唐纳德·特朗普总统承诺，如果共和党在11月的中期选举中保住众议院和参议院的多数席位，他将向每位美国成年人支付5000美元——这是一项非同寻常的提议，因为他正努力让自己的政党继续执政。

但他没有透露将如何支付这笔费用，只是将其比作公司向股东支付股息，以及他的政府去年向军人额外发放的 1776 美元支票。

“我的承诺是：如果共和党人赢得众议院和参议院，两个都赢，”特朗普说，“我将向美国每位成年公民发放 5000 美元的红利。”

特朗普周三在达拉斯向聚集在那里的共和党人发表讲话时做出了这一承诺，这是一场不同寻常的中期选举大会的第一晚。

总统正努力克服支持率下滑、经济逆风以及不利于执政党的历史趋势，以期保住共和党的多数席位，并阻止民主党可能发起的一系列调查以及对其施政纲领的强烈反对，以完成其最后两年的任期。

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事实核查：特朗普在共和党全国代表大会演讲中发表了多项虚假言论

在共和党全国代表大会两晚会议的第一晚闭幕演讲中，总统嘲讽民主党人，称他们为“双性民主党人”。他吹嘘自己在边境安全方面所做的努力，并夸耀自己反对跨性别女性参加女子体育运动的政治影响力。随着他的政治团队开始投入数千万美元，特朗普誓言要全力以赴地为共和党竞选，直至11月3日。

“我请求你们假装我的名字在选票上，”他说。“我的名字在选票上。就再说一遍。”

以下是总统支持者称之为“特朗普狂欢节”的大会首晚的一些要点：

特朗普告诉共和党人，他将在今年秋季积极开展竞选活动，与大约 35 位众议院和参议院候选人举行活动，这些候选人将在竞争激烈的选战中角逐，共和党正努力保住其在国会的多数席位，而特朗普则希望打破现任总统所在政党在中期选举中表现不佳的历史趋势。

“我们将举行像这样的集会。我们将使用挤满人的大型体育馆，”特朗普说。

他敦促德州选民团结在共和党籍总检察长肯·帕克斯顿周围，帕克斯顿在初选中击败了较为温和的参议员约翰·科宁。特朗普的背书在帕克斯顿的胜选过程中发挥了重要作用，但也使他面临着与资金雄厚的民主党州众议员詹姆斯·塔拉里科的艰难大选。

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特朗普用一种如今已为人熟知的口吻嘲讽了帕克斯顿，尽管他也承认这样做“非常侮辱人”。

他说德州人“可能不喜欢他的穿着打扮。我也不喜欢。”（不过，他确实称赞了帕克斯顿周二晚上穿的西装。）

特朗普还表示，选民“可能不喜欢他的说话方式。我能理解。”

但特朗普说，帕克斯顿“可能是全美最优秀的司法部长”。

“我们必须选肯·帕克斯顿。我们必须这么做，”特朗普说。“如果需要，我会连任两三次。”

几位面临激烈选战的共和党参议员——包括缅因州参议员苏珊·柯林斯和阿拉斯加州参议员丹·沙利文——缺席了党代会，试图以此表明他们与本党和总统的独立性。

但一位来自摇摆州的民主党参议员以视频方式出席了会议。

参议员约翰·费特曼录制了一段视频，介绍他的宾夕法尼亚州同事、共和党参议员戴夫·麦考密克。这段视频是在美国钢铁公司一家工厂外录制的，费特曼在视频中表示，他虽然是民主党人，但反对“社会主义的极端主义”和“反美的生活方式”。

费特曼介绍麦考密克时说：“他是一位伟大的美国人，一位伟大的参议员，是的，他属于不同的党派，但我很自豪能把他视为我的好朋友。”

引言重点介绍了参议院一对奇特的组合——两位参议员之间的友谊，而他们的摇摆州席位在下次选举中肯定会成为对方政党的目标：费特曼的席位在 2028 年；麦考密克的席位在 2030 年。

民主党人介绍共和党候选人时，赢得了当晚最热烈的掌声之一。当麦考密克问在场观众：“约翰·费特曼真是太棒了，对吧？”时，费特曼再次赢得了热烈的欢呼。

尤其是费特曼，近几个月来一直被猜测可能转换党派。他也是今年席卷党内初选的进步派浪潮最直言不讳的批评者之一。

他多次否认自己会改变党派——并在视频播出后再次发表声明回应此事。

声明中说：“我是一名终身民主党人，绝大多数时候都和我的党派一起投票——如果参议院在11月易主，我仍然会是我竞选时承诺的第51票。”

特朗普发动的伊朗战争导致汽油价格飙升。当天早些时候，原油价格一度触及每桶100美元，为7月以来的最高水平。

民主党人一直猛烈抨击共和党候选人高昂的医疗成本。在党代会上，共和党人试图强调医疗成本的可负担性，并称赞特朗普2025年的税改法案，该法案包括取消符合条件的员工的小费和加班费税。

威斯康星州众议员德里克·范·奥登（Derrick Van Orden）的第三选区席位是今年秋季民主党的重点目标，他赞扬了特朗普的减税政策和《一个美好的大法案》对农村医疗保健的拨款。

他说：“他正在努力让普通美国民众真正享受到优质的医疗保健服务。”

北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员候选人迈克尔·沃特利（Michael Whatley）将在另一场关键的竞选中对阵民主党前州长罗伊·库珀（Roy Cooper），他称赞特朗普“将数千美元重新交还给了家庭和老年人”。

特朗普本人对伊朗战争及其对汽油价格的影响做出了最直接的表态，他表示一旦美国赢得战争，油价就会下降。他还说，霍尔木兹海峡应该更名为“特朗普海峡”。

密歇根州民主党参议员候选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔-赛义德可能是该党被提及次数最多的成员。

埃尔-赛义德与共和党前众议员迈克·罗杰斯的竞选是11月中期选举中最重要的一场参议院席位争夺战，或许也是共和党夺取民主党把持席位的最佳机会。民主党需要净增四个席位才能赢得参议院多数席位。

“他憎恨自己国家的一部分。他甚至不确定以色列是否应该存在，”南卡罗来纳州参议员、全国共和党参议员委员会主席蒂姆·斯科特在一次措辞激烈的演讲中谈到埃尔-赛义德时说道。埃尔-赛义德批评以色列在哈马斯于2023年10月7日发动袭击后对加沙地带发动的战争，并拒绝回答他是否认为以色列有生存的权利，称这个问题是在转移视线。

布莱恩·斯奈德/路透社

共和党人普遍试图将赢得少数众议院初选的民主社会主义者和像埃尔-赛义德这样的进步人士描绘成美国价值观的异类——将他们描述为极端分子、共产主义者和恐怖主义同情者。

他们试图将整个民主党与埃尔-赛义德、纽约市市长佐赫兰·马姆达尼和明尼苏达州众议员伊尔汗·奥马尔等进步派人士联系起来。这三人都是穆斯林。

“这次选举非常明确：是主流与极端之间的较量。因为我们国家现在还有另一股政治势力，他们不相信美国现在或过去是伟大的，”德克萨斯州众议员布兰登·吉尔说道。他此前曾表示应该禁止穆斯林移民美国。“他们有时自称社会主义者，有些人甚至自称共产主义者。但他们中的大多数人只是自称民主党人。”

共和党人明确表示，他们将文化问题——特别是民主党在跨性别美国人权利问题上的立场——视为最强有力的攻击点。

共和党人播放了一段视频混剪，重点报道了特朗普推动“禁止男性参加女子体育运动”的举措，其中包括播客主持人乔·罗根称此举是“常识”。

他们还着重指出民主党过去对跨性别者的言论。

“詹姆斯·塔拉里科声称有六种性别。他认为上帝是非二元性别。他还认为上帝需要特殊的、符合觉醒理念的代词，”全国共和党参议员委员会主席斯科特在谈到这位来自德克萨斯州的民主党参议员候选人时说道。塔拉里科周三告诉福克斯新闻，他“过去的一些言论有误”，包括他对性别数量的评论。

他的竞争对手帕克斯顿声称塔拉里科“想让你的孩子变性”。

财政部长斯科特·贝森特猛烈抨击民主党人，称他们“不遗余力地试图将美国改造成上世纪所有社会主义人间地狱的翻版”。

大多数共和党人并没有直接支持特朗普加大遣返力度的举措。但他们把矛头指向民主党，指责他们应对前总统乔·拜登执政期间移民执法不力以及非法移民犯罪负责。

佐治亚州众议员迈克·柯林斯正在与民主党参议员乔恩·奥索夫竞选，他表示，奥索夫不会帮助他通过一项以莱肯·莱利命名的法案。莱肯·莱利是佐治亚州的一名护理系学生，于 2024 年被一名非法移民谋杀——尽管奥索夫投票支持了这项法案，该法案已于 2025 年由特朗普签署成为法律。

“他根本不愿帮我。直到政治上对他有利时，他才想起她的名字，”柯林斯说。