Trump implores GOP to ‘pretend’ he’s on November ballot at first night of midterm convention

President Trump renewed his calls on Wednesday for Republicans to pretend that he’s on the ballot in November, promising $5,000 for every U.S. adult if the GOP holds onto the House and Senate.

“I’m asking you to pretend that I’m on the ballot,” he said in the keynote address at the RNC midterm convention in Dallas. “Just one more time, because if we lose, you’re going to lose your border, you’re going to lose your tax cuts. You’re going to lose your safety and security. You’re going to lose your wealth.”

The president has begun to urge Republicans to vote as if his name will be on the ballot in recent weeks amid a tough election landscape, with the GOP grappling with historical headwinds, Trump’s sinking approval ratings and fallout from the war in Iran.

“The midterms are not supposed to be won by the sitting president, and we’re going to change that, and we’ll make it an even more important time in our country and presidency,” he continued, noting it’s a “beautiful challenge”

In an effort to boost turnout for GOP candidates, Trump pledged to disburse “Trump dividends” of $5,000 if Republicans hang onto their slim majorities in the House and Senate.

He noted Wednesday that the government could issue these payments “because we’ve done so well and because our country is making so much money,” though it’s unclear what legal questions such a move could pose.

He added that the payments could only be used in the U.S. but did not offer any other details.

Throughout his nearly two-hour speech, Trump praised his sweeping tariff agenda and trade deals. He noted that “tariff” was once his “most-favorite word,” but it has since moved to fifth place.

“Trillions of dollars in tariff revenue have come in,” he said. “Record investments from foreign countries and enormous new equity stakes in major companies.”

The president also repeated his pledge to hit the campaign trail for Republican candidates in battleground races ahead of the general election.

“We can win every one of those races, but I’m going to go to every one of those states for congressmen and for senators,” he said. “I’m going to do that, and we’re going to have rallies.”

He also spoke about the Iran war, telling Tehran “not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard.”

He said people come up to him “all the time” and say they wished he hadn’t started the Iran war, which has become increasingly unpopular among voters.

“I say … ‘Let me ask you one question: Can Iran have a nuclear weapon?’ ‘Absolutely not,’” he said. “Well, then I’m right that I went in.”

He repeated his predictions that oil prices will tick down when the conflict concludes, noting this will be after the Nov. 3 elections.

“The war will be over very shortly after the election,” he said. “They’re hanging out for dear life, hoping that we lose, so they can deal with dumb, weak Democrats, and they can have their nuclear bomb.”

Trump received cheers from the crowd over his executive order to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America.” He also talked about changing the name of the Strait of Hormuz to the “Trump Strait.”

Nearly half-way through his lengthy speech, the president joked that he loves to “weave” between different issues in his remarks.

“I love ‘the weave,’ you know what ‘the weave’ is,” he said. “You talk about something, then you bring in a ballroom, or you bring in an airplane, or you bring in Air Force One, but you notice I always get right back to the same topic.”

“Someday there’ll be a time when I don’t get back to the original subject, and then you can say, ‘He’s had it,’ OK?”

He only spoke briefly about his renovations at the White House as well as the new Air Force One plane.