The story was published by The Associated Press and republished by InDepthNH.org in partnership with the AP Journalism Fund.
By The Associated Press
Republicans are gathering in Dallas on Wednesday for a highly unusual two-day midterm convention, a first for the party, that will put President Donald Trump at the center of this fall’s midterm elections.
Trump plans to take the stage both nights, delivering a keynote address Wednesday and then closing remarks after Vice President JD Vance gives his own speech on Thursday. Members of Trump’s Cabinet will also address the convention. Democrats, meanwhile, are planning their own counterprogramming.
Republicans hope the event, which is part rally and part fundraiser, will help catapult their candidates into November, primarily by highlighting the first two years of Trump’s term. The president has insisted that running on his record will give the GOP their best shot at winning, even as his own poll numbers sag.
In an exchange with reporters before his flight to the convention, Trump said oil prices that have surged because of the Iran war likely won’t come down until after the midterm elections. An AP-NORC poll in July offered a stark repudiation of Trump’s handling of the conflict, as results showed about two-thirds of U.S. adults say the war with Iran has not been worthwhile.
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Bessent says Democrats would ‘dismantle gains’ made under Trump
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took the stage at the Republican convention and lauded Trump while attacking Democrats.
Bessent cast the midterm election as a stark choice that could undo Trump’s agenda, saying the first thing Democrats would do would be to “dismantle the gains we’ve made under President Trump.”
In particular, he praised Trump Accounts, tax-advantaged accounts enacted as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that can be opened for any child under 18. Babies born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028, can get $1,000 in seed money from the U.S. Treasury.
Oath Keepers founder spotted at GOP convention
Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers extremist group, was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
He was later among those who benefited from Trump’s sweeping clemency action on his first day back in the White House after winning a second term.
Attorney General Todd Blanche touts Trump for ‘making America safe again’
Blanche said at the midterm convention that Trump turned “soft-on-crime” laws around.
“President Trump and the vice president said that they have always and they will always back the blue. They put American families first. They prove that that order and prosperity go hand in hand,” he said.
Blanche’s appearance at the convention has raised eyebrows because Justice Department leaders don’t typically speak at such events given the agency’s tradition of political independence.
The Justice Department has defended the move, saying in a social media post on Thursday that Blanche was appearing in his personal capacity and said it was “legal (and has been approved by ethics).”
GOP convention spotlights Laken Riley, whose name appears on immigration bill Trump signed
The Republican midterm convention zeroed in on Trump’s handling of immigration, spotlighting the story of Laken Riley, the Georgia nursing student who was killed while out for a run by a Venezuelan man.
GOP Rep. Mike Collins spoke after Riley’s family appeared in a video at the event. Collins is running against Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia.
Collins sponsored legislation named after Riley that requires the detention of unauthorized immigrants accused of theft and violent crimes. It was the first bill of Trump’s second administration to be signed into law.
It’s a convention with everything but a nomination
The mood on the floor at the American Airlines Center is much like a traditional presidential-year nominating convention, without the, well, nomination.
Speaker after speaker is praising Trump, the leader of the party, around whom the entire event has been built to gin up Republican enthusiasm ahead of the midterms.
The Rev. Lorenzo Sewell ended his rousing speech reprising the mantra from Trump’s 2024 campaign, “Fight, fight, fight.”
Like any convention, the Texas delegation — this time seated at the very front — is obvious in the sea of white cowboy hats.
And attendees are waving U.S. flags and signs that read “Republicans Are Fixing Democrats’ Mess.” Even the balloons — red, white, blue and gold — are held in nets above the floor waiting to drop when the convention concludes Thursday.
Melania Trump says White House architecture tells America’s story
The first lady was not at the Republican Party’s midterm convention in Dallas, where her husband was speaking later Thursday.
She was at the White House addressing a private Rose Garden reception honoring the White House Historical Association’s Presidential Sites Summit. It’s a regular gathering of leaders from presidential sites across the country.
In remarks that were released by her office, the first lady described the White House as an “architectural autobiography of America” and said the nation’s “ideals and stories are woven directly into the fabric of the White House.”
She also discussed her design work at the mansion, including the design and construction of a tennis pavilion, the renovation of the Queens’ Bedroom and the Queens’ Bathroom, conserving historic wallpaper discovered in the President’s Dining Room and restoring and upgrading the Rose Garden.
Texas Republican Senate nominee Paxton draws comparison to Trump
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is in a tightly contested fight to win the Senate seat in the Republican-heavy state, got a hero’s welcome from the audience in Dallas.
“The press, the courts and the establishment all tried to take President Trump down, but he’s won every single time,” Paxton said, drawing cheers. It wasn’t a broad leap to Paxton himself, who has beaten impeachment and state and federal charges, all while winning reelection.
Paxton ravaged his Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, describing him as worthy of representing Democratic-leaning California, and challenging his positions on transgender rights and his version of Christianity.
Fetterman crosses the aisle to address GOP convention
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman spoke to the GOP convention in Dallas, an extraordinary escalation in the worsening rupture between the Pennsylvanian and his party.
Fetterman recorded a short video introducing Sen. Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican.
“I’m always going to stand with America,” Fetterman said. “I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.”
Standing in front of a steel mill, Fetterman said he “will work with President Trump to fight and defend the steel way of life.”
He called McCormick “a great American.”
Fetterman has grown increasingly isolated from his party as he maintains staunch support of Israel’s war in Gaza and criticizes left-wing candidates who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America. He’s often gone his own way in the Senate, voting repeatedly with Republicans to end the government shutdown last year while supporting multiple Trump nominations and opposing efforts to end the war in Iran.