Trump doubles down on pledge of $5,000 payments if his party retains control of Congress as he address convention a second time – live

Key events

Trump’s energy for talking about politics appears to have waned.

“I’ve been doing this now for seven days straight. I want a little music, if you don’t mind,” Trump said, while introducing opera singer Christopher Macchio.

In an improvised pledge of allegiance to himself, Trump directed the audience to commit to voting in the midterm elections at all costs.

The president asked Republicans in the arena to repeat: “I don’t care if I’m registered or not. I’m going to try. And cheat like hell like they do.”

Trump added: “You know what happens if you don’t vote? You go to hell.”

Trump said that voters have to do “the biggest favor you’ve ever done me” and “pretend I’m on the ticket”.

“In a way I am on the ballot,” the president said, despite the fact that many Republicans in battleground states might actually be hampered by yolking themselves to the Trump administration, amid record low approval ratings.

Trump acknowledged that when he’s on the ticket “everybody comes to vote”, but it is still crucial to vote for Republicans in races across the country.

He urged Republicans to turn out and vote for Ken Paxton, the GOP nominee for US Senate in Texas. Once again, Trump took digs at Paxton’s appearance, and even revealed that many advisers pleaded with him to not offer comment.

“I don’t really like the way he looks, I don’t like it,” Trump said. “But you know what I do like? He was the greatest attorney general in the history of Texas.”

Trump doubles down on pledge of $5,000 payments to US adult citizens if his party retains control of Congress

The president just mentioned the $5,000 for all US adults he has promised if Republicans win the midterm elections. He’s one of the few people to actually mention the pledge on stage tonight.

“We can do that because our country has never done better. We’re taking in trillions, trillions of dollars,” Trump said.

The major legal question of whether this “dividend” actually violates federal law still remains.

As he runs through what he sees as his main achievements, Trump repeats his false claim that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act has delivered the “largest tax cuts in American history”.

This isn’t true. In fact, these tax cuts aren’t actually in the top five in US history.

Trump praised Vance for his performance on stage, and repeated claims that the venue is “packed” again.

He said he would be “a little bit brief” in his remarks because of his nearly two-hour speech last night.

“I don’t feel like going over the same material again,” the president said.

Donald Trump is, again, walking on stage to a second live performance of God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood.

As Vance wraps up his remarks, insisting that it’s imperative to send Democrats “packing” in November, the vice-president was another speaker who avoided mentioning Trump’s $5,000 “dividend” to every US adult if Republicans hold on to control of Congress.

Interestingly, Vance doubled down on his criticism of Abdul El-Sayed, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Michigan, by chiding him for appearing to suggest that Vance’s grandfather (who helped raised him) wouldn’t approve of the vice-president’s interracial marriage.

“The Democrats are the party of hatred. They’re the party that despises America and the people who built it,” Vance said. “They say that people with names like James Vance are incapable of loving people with names like Usha, and they couldn’t be more wrong.”

Vance continued to urge voters to stay with the Republican party.

“We have done a lot, my friends, and we can do a lot more if we fight together,” he said. “Let’s send these lunatics packing and govern our country for the future.”

Vance pleads with voters to 'not throw the baby out with the bathwater' if they disagree with certain Republican policies

JD Vance just used Charlie Kirk as his vehicle to implore voters who may disagree with certain Trump administration policies not to abandon the party in key congressional races this November.

“Charlie hated war. Whether it was Europe or Africa, the Middle East, he didn’t care. He just hated war. That was his view. Now, of course, there are people who love what we’ve done and people who don’t,” Vance said, referring to the ongoing conflict in Iran that has caused prices across the country to spike. “What I’m asking you to do is do what Charlie did: do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don’t 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 is now slamming several Democratic nominees in states where Republicans are facing key challenges. This includes James Talarico in Texas and Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan – both of whom are frequent targets of the GOP ahead of November.

“These are the candidates that congressional Democrats have put forth for you to vote for in November,” the vice-president said. “They asked my friends for a one-way ticket to Washington to legislate and regulate and wield power over your lives. Instead, in my opinion, they need a one-way ticket to a mental hospital.”

In many ways this speech is an audition for JD Vance’s possible 2028 presidential run. He’s spent much of his time on stage setting out the threats of the so-called “far left”, the administration’s greatest hits and slamming Joe Biden’s tenure in office.

Vance just acknowledged that a protester interrupted his remarks while waving a Mexican flag.

“Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” Vance said, in a moment that was red meat for the base, and saw chants of “USA” erupt throughout the arena.

Vance, using the birth of his fourth child as a launchpad, addressed “radicals who wish to abolish my family and the thousands and millions of other families all across our country” to “stay the hell away from our kids”.

A quick aside from Vance, who says that his wife – Usha – who gave birth to a son over a month ago, is not in Dallas.

The vice-president recalled that his wife said “hell no” when Republican Committee (RNC) organizers asked if she would be willing to introduce her husband, just two weeks after giving birth.

“But she sends her love, and I know she’s watching at home,” Vance said.

Vance praises Charlie Kirk as a 'great man'

JD Vance has dedicated a portion of his speech, as we noted earlier, to remember Charlie Kirk – the Turning Point USA founder who was murdered at a campus event in Utah exactly a year ago. Vance and Kirk were close friends.

“Charlie left behind two children, two little kids … I hope that one day they will watch and they will know, and they will understand what I’m trying to say to them tonight. Though they may not appreciate it today, history will record that your father was a great man,” Vance said.