DALLAS—President Donald Trump on the night of Sept. 9 cast his second term as “the greatest two years in the history of the presidency,” rallying voters to support Republicans in the upcoming elections at a historic midterm convention in Dallas.

Trump promised to issue a $5,000 dividend to every adult citizen if Republicans keep their majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

“Your vote will decide whether our country stumbles at the starting gate of the next 250 years or surges forward and never ever looks back,” Trump said as he began his remarks.

“Vote Republican, and we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come.”

The two-day convention kicked off on Sept. 9, less than two months before the November election, as part of Trump’s efforts to boost Republicans in tight races and help the party hold on to Congress.

During his remarks, the president highlighted his policies and outlined key GOP accomplishments under his leadership, including stronger border security, lower crime, increased energy production, and tax cuts for workers.

“The typical American’s 401(k) has gone up by almost $50,000, and unemployment claims have reached the lowest level ever recorded,” Trump said.

All of the tax cuts, he said, “are going to go through the roof if you put in the Democrats on November 3rd.”

Trump highlighted the recent oil agreement with Venezuela, stating that the United States is now stronger than OPEC.

“Now we’re the biggest in the world, and that’s without Venezuela, which we’ve just added to our little stockpile,” Trump said.

He said that 65 billion barrels of proven Venezuelan reserves under the deal now belong to the United States.

Before heading to Dallas, the president told reporters that Republican members should “just keep fighting” and keep explaining how well the country is doing.

“We’re doing better now as a country than we’ve ever done before,” he said.

Trump said Iran is “in shambles right now” and predicted that oil prices will come down after the midterms.

“Right after the election, oil prices are going to be tumbling downward,” he told reporters. “They’re going to be tumbling down, and we‘ll get them down. I think for gasoline, we’ll get them below $2 a gallon.”

With the Iran conflict holding gasoline prices high, strained household budgets have kept the economy at the top of voters’ minds ahead of the midterms.

On Sept. 9, the price of Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, surged past $100 per barrel.

The national average for a gallon of regular gas was $4.22 on Sept. 9, compared with $3.19 a year ago.

Iranian Influence

Trump also said that the Iranian regime is desperately trying to influence the U.S. midterms.

“I think the war will end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer,” the president told reporters earlier in the day, referring to the Iranian regime leaders.

Trump repeated that message during his convention speech, saying that Tehran is hoping Democrats will gain control and allow the regime to pursue nuclear weapons.

“We’re not going to let that happen,” Trump said.

President Donald Trump arrives to speak during the 2026 Republican Midterm Convention in Dallas on Sept. 9, 2026. (Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times)

The president also said that he would rename the Strait of Hormuz.

“We'll call it the Trump Strait, and I’m sure the Iranian leadership will be thrilled with that,” he said.

Before ending his remarks, Trump criticized Democratic candidates who call themselves socialists.

He claimed that they want to put books by Lenin and Stalin in every library so that all children would read and study them.

“If they win, the greatest legislative body in history will, for the first time ever, be controlled by a communist caucus,” he said.

“All I’m asking in this election is that you stand with me. Together, we will defeat communism in America once and for all.”

Trump pointed to 35 hotly contested congressional and Senate races. He said he plans to hit the road, holding rallies in key districts and states, and make another stop in Texas to back Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s Senate run.

Election Spending

Before the convention, Trump attended a MAGA Inc. meeting at the Rosewood Mansion at Turtle Creek, a luxury hotel in downtown Dallas.

On Sept. 4, he said his Super PAC would allocate up to $500 million to support Republican House and Senate candidates.

“I think I have close to $1 billion in the Super PAC and I’m allocating probably $400 million to $500 million,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

President Donald Trump speaks at day 1 of the 2026 Republican National Committee (RNC) Midterm Convention in Dallas on Sept. 9, 2026. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

First GOP Midterm Convention

Despite temperatures reaching 100 degrees, leading Republican policymakers, candidates, social media influencers, and political organizations are attending the convention in Dallas.

Trump is scheduled to speak again tomorrow on the convention’s final night. Vice President JD Vance will also address attendees on Thursday.

Thursday night will also feature a tribute to conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk on the first anniversary of his assassination in September 2025.

Ahead of the speech, the White House shared a list of Trump’s achievements in an email.

“In less than two years, President Donald J. Trump has driven the most consequential stretch of governing in modern American history,” the email read. “He inherited a disaster—and turned it into a historic comeback.”

Both parties traditionally hold large conventions during presidential election years to nominate their candidates. Last year, Trump suggested holding a similar event before the midterms. Democrats held several midterm conventions in the 1970s and 1980s, but the Dallas event is the GOP’s first midterm convention.

Some members of Congress have decided not to attend the convention, saying the $25,000 admission fee is too expensive.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) made a surprise appearance at the convention on the night of Sept. 9 with a video message, endorsing Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pa.) and praising Trump for his support for U.S. Steel, a Pittsburgh company.

“Yes, I’m Senator John Fetterman, Pennsylvania. Yes, I’m a Democrat. Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I’m a common-sense Democrat,” Fetterman said in his video message.

“I’m always going to stand with America. I’m always going to reject the extremes in socialism and that anti-American way of life.”

Nathan Worcester and Joseph Lord contributed to this report.