There isn't anyone who can rally Republicans quite like Trumppublished at 02:31 BST

02:31 BST

Daniel Bush
Washington correspondent, reporting from

Going back to his first term in office, Republicans have lost ground when President Donald Trump isn't on the ballot. On Wednesday, he implored the Republican base to reverse the trend.

"I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot," Trump says in his speech at the midterm convention in Dallas.

The remark is an acknowledgment by Trump that he remains the party's best driver of turnout.

It may be true, but it also speaks to the challenge Republicans have both in 2026 and 2028.

Trump won't be on the ballot again, and though he can continue campaigning for the party, there isn't a clear successor who can rally the party base quite like Trump.

Trump next invokes an oft-cited statistic, that the presidents' party tends to lose seats in Congress in the midterm elections.

"We've got to change that," Trump tells supporters, urging them to "pretend I'm on the ballot" and turn out to vote in November.

Trump touts how well his second presidential term has been going so far, saying: "This has been the most successful two years, financially and every other way in the history of the presidency."

"I want you to remember me in four or five years when this country is rocketing. Remember, I'm the one that got it started," he adds.

Trump starts his speech by praising the first ever Republican midterm convention and reminiscing on the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence.

He says the upcoming November midterm elections will be some of the most important in US history, calling them a test that could determine the country's next 250 years.

"If we hand America's future to the radical left Democrats...it will be a tragedy," he says. "Vote Republican and we will leave the world in our dust for generations to come."

His comments are met with chants of "USA".

Image source, Getty Images

President Donald Trump has now taken the stage to deliver his keynote speech.

Stay with us as we bring you the key lines, and you can click watch live to stream it above.

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As we wait for Trump to speak, we can see Health Secretary RFK Jr, Vice-President JD Vance, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent shaking hands and chatting.

Kayla Epstein
US reporter

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US Attorney General Todd Blanche spoke at the Republicans' midterm convention on Wednesday night, putting the nation’s most powerful law enforcement official smack in the middle of an explicitly political event.

He touted the administration’s aggressive work to pursue fraud and deport people in the country illegally.

"To evil men and women it his country know this: President Trump will hold you accountable," he said.

It’s a major departure from precedent. Even though US attorneys general ultimately answer to the president, they typically avoid making their work appear political. That has usually included skipping events like party conventions.

Donald Trump has arrived at the convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, according to reporters travelling with the president.

The lineup on night one of this Republican convention includes lawmakers and candidates running in the November election.

“If we lose Texas, we lose the common-sense revolution. If we lose the common-sense revolution, we lose America,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running as the state's Republican Senate candidate, says.

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Image source, AFP via Getty Images

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Donald Trump is in his car on the way to the convention centre in Dallas, according to reporters travelling with the president.

Image source, Reuters

While tonight is about Republicans and their bid to push candidates in competitive races, Democrats have also been speaking in Texas.

Ahead of tonight’s convention, Illinois' Democratic Governor JB Pritzker travelled south to Dallas to stump for Democratic candidates in Texas. Chiefly James Talarico, who is running in a close election with Republican Ken Paxton for US Senate.

"This bizarre Republican midterm convention here can't paper over the fact that Republicans have done nothing to earn your vote," Pritzker said.

"Donald Trump is hoping that a flashy prime time event will make you forget that his trade war is killing costs for families at the grocery store, his war in Iran is killing ranchers and farmers and their way of life, and his war on the working families of this country [is] raising the costs of healthcare and housing."

Is President Trump an electoral asset or a liability for Republicans?published at 01:42 BST

01:42 BST

Sarah Smith
North America editor, reporting from Dallas

This unusual convention was Donald Trump's idea. And he will be the star of the show.

He is delivering the keynote address tonight and the closing speech tomorrow night. He clearly believes that the more voters see of him the more likely they are to vote Republican in November’s midterm elections.

But is President Trump still his party’s greatest electoral asset? Or has he become a liability?

Voters are angry about the high cost of living and deeply frustrated about the war in Iran which is helping to push prices up. And many of them directly blame Donald Trump.

The question is whether they will punish his Republican candidates at the ballot box in November.

Sakshi Venkatraman
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Every four years, the US holds a slate of important elections that shape the political future of the country.

These elections don't choose the president. In fact, they fall in the middle of the president's four-year term. That's how they get their name: the midterms.

And they're coming up this November.

Here's what you need to know:

• US voters select who will represent them in Congress - the branch of government responsible for creating the laws that govern the country
• Currently, Trump's Republican party holds the White House and a majority in both chambers of Congress - the Senate and the House of Representative. But that could change after the midterms
• Democrats, the other major US party, want to flip seats so they can have the majority and pass laws that are important to them. They've been campaigning hard all over the country.
• This convention tonight is meant to drum up support for Republicans, as many of them are facing very close challenges with Democrats in US states like Texas, Michigan and North Carolina.
• Midterms often serve as a verdict on how voters think the president is doing, and the party that holds the White House tends to lose seats.

Vice-President JD Vance, who is set to speak at the Republican convention on Thursday night, has arrived in Dallas, Texas.

Image source, Getty Images

Daniel Bush
Washington correspondent, reporting from Dallas

Image source, EPA

Inside American Airlines Arena here in Dallas, the so-called Trumpapalooza convention has all the hallmarks of the traditional presidential election-year conventions staged by both parties every four years: thousands of sign-waving supporters, activists and party officials roaming the arena floor, vendors selling political merchandise.

There are even massive clusters of red, white, and blue (and gold) balloons hanging overhead from the arena rafters, ready to rain down on the crowd in the traditional "balloon drop" when the convention ends Thursday night.

But the atmosphere feels different in some important ways. There's no official nomination process, or formal delegates. It's taking place on a compressed two-day schedule, instead of four. And most of the Republican establishment are staying away, wary of embracing a president with near-historic low approval ratings.

It's something of a cross between a mini-convention and an extended CPAC, the annual conservative political forum held outside of Washington, DC.

And perhaps in a sign of the enthusiasm around this event, large swaths of seats in the upper bowl of the arena are empty.

Some supporters of the Republican Party and President Donald Trump have show up in costume for night one of the convention, donning messages of support for the party ahead of the midterm elections.

Attendees expressed their devotion to the Make America Great Again Movement - some with sparkly letters spelling out Trump's name and others with signs that say "keep the majority", a reference to the party's majority in both chambers of the US Congress, which Democrats hope to challenge in November.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

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It's a convention full of Republicans - with an appearance from one Democrat.

Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania has appeared by video to endorse the other incumbent senator from the state, Republican Dave McCormick, for office.

"Yes, I'm a Democrat," Fetterman said. "Why am I here talking to you today? Because, well, I'm a common-sense Democrat. I'm always gonna stand with America. I'm always gonna reject the extremes."

Fetterman has distanced himself from the most left-wing elements of his party, even sometimes siding with his Republican colleagues in Senate votes.

Sarah Smith
North America editor, reporting from Dallas

Jen Lott is a proud Donald Trump supporter who is delighted to be here at the Dallas convention selling her customisable cowboy hats.

But she is acutely aware that not every voter feels the same way about the president as she does.

She told me what she thinks voters are worried about: "Fuel prices are really expensive, even like poultry and meat, all those prices are expensive.

"I think that the farmers and I think even truck drivers want to hear how we're going to get the expenses down so that they can bring more to their table instead of spending it on everyday resources."

Jen agrees that a lot of people will blame those high prices on Trump, and that might hurt Republican candidates in November.

"He needs to say, 'We're gonna get prices down... we are going to make living more affordable by doing the following, we are going to help with mental health by doing in the following, and we're going to make healthcare more accessible.'"

Asked if she has heard a plan from Trump to bring down prices, she did not look convinced. "I've heard lots of stuff," she said. "I will just leave it at that."

Daniel Bush
Washington correspondent, reporting from Dallas

Image source, Getty Images

President Donald Trump has spent months arguing that high petrol prices caused by the war with Iran are a temporary problem that'll go away as soon as the conflict is over.

But as he departed for the Republican convention in Dallas, Trump acknowledged Americans will have to wait a while longer to see relief at the petrol pump.

"I think it's going to take a little bit longer than the midterms," Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One for Texas.

Loyal Trump supporters at the convention may be willing to wait.

But that message may not land well with the moderate voters Republicans need to turn out in November. Foreign policy rarely decides US elections, but, among those here at the convention, the Iran war is a major topic of discussion.

It'll be interesting see how Trump addresses the issue in his keynote speech at the convention later tonight.

Image source, Reuters

Just before heading to Texas, Donald Trump said he thought the Iran war would end "immediately after" November's midterm elections, adding that oil prices would not come down until then.

"I think the war's going to end immediately after the election because they [Iran] can't hold out any longer," Trump said.

The president faces falling polling numbers and pressure from within his own Republican Party to end the war with Iran. Since the war began in February, the president has previously given various deadlines - all of which passed have passed as fighting continues - for when the conflict would end.

On Wednesday, oil prices rose to $100 (£74) for the first time since July due to increased fighting in the Middle East.

Watch his comments below: