Trump touts $6,300 payout if Republicans win as Vance waits in wings

• President Trump promised a US$5,000 (S$6,300) payment to every US adult if Republicans keep Congress, costing about US$1.35 trillion, during the party's midterm convention in Dallas.
• The convention focused heavily on Trump, with attacks on Democrats as "socialists" and "communists", but offered little on key voter concerns like the Iran war and cost of living.
• Republicans face tough midterm elections amid low Trump approval and strong Democratic motivation, using the event to energise voters despite some candidates distancing themselves from Trump.

DALLAS, Texas – President Donald Trump capped the first day of his Republican Party’s first-ever midterm convention by proposing to pay every US adult a US$5,000 (S$6,300) “Trump dividend” if his party wins November’s congressional elections.

Trump delivered the extraordinary overture during a prime-time speech that lasted nearly two hours and firmly placed him at the centre of the midterm campaign at a time when his sagging approval ratings could weigh on Republicans’ chances.

Vice-President J.D. Vance will give the keynote address on the night of Sept 10, though Trump is scheduled to make closing remarks to bring the made-for-television two-day event in Dallas to an end.

With Trump constitutionally barred from seeking a third term, Vance’s speech could serve as an early audition for the 2028 presidential election and offer clues about how he would lead a party reshaped by Trump.

It was not immediately clear how the US$5,000 payments would work or whether they would be legal. The proposal would likely cost more than US$1 trillion, with approximately 270 million US adults, and could require the approval of Congress.

The convention’s focus on Trump – some Republicans have dubbed it “Trumpapalooza” – amounts to a risky bet that he can mobilise the voters who carried him to the presidency in 2024, despite opinion polls showing his popularity is at an all-time low.

But it remains to be seen whether his campaign-style speech will appeal to the critical swing voters who have drifted away from Trump’s party amid growing dissatisfaction with the cost of living and the war on Iran.

‘Pretend I’m on the ballot’

“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 Make America Great Again voters.

Republican efforts received a boost from an unlikely source on Sept 9, when Democratic US Senator John Fetterman appeared in a pre-taped video segment introducing his “great friend”, fellow Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick, a Republican.

Fetterman said he would always “reject the extremes in socialism”, a comment that is likely to bolster Republican attacks on Democrats as too left-wing. Fetterman, who has increasingly broken with his fellow Democrats, has nevertheless rejected speculation that he might leave the party.

Some vulnerable Republicans in tough races, perhaps mindful of tying themselves too closely to the unpopular Trump, elected to skip the affair. They included Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Senator Susan Collins of Maine.

Democrats portrayed as ‘socialists’ and ‘communists’

While Republican officials had described the convention as an opportunity to tout Trump’s policies, most speakers focused on attacking Democrats as extreme on topics such as transgender women in sports and border security – political red meat for core Trump supporters.

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.

“People want to feel like we’re not getting stuck in an endless cycle,” he said.

Trump defended his decision to attack Iran, saying he acted to prevent Tehran 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 US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, and analysts have said Iran’s nuclear programme 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 favourite attack lines. Democrats are “dangerous, radical and weird”, said Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chairman of the party’s Senate campaign arm.

The 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. REUTERS