Trump Asks Voters to "Pretend He's on the Ballot": The Power Spectacle on Opening Night of the Republican Midterm Convention

In September 2026, the US Republican midterm convention opened in Dallas. According to The Wall Street Journal, US President Trump, in his opening-night keynote address, directly asked voters to "pretend he's on the ballot," transforming an election that nominally belongs to members of Congress into political mobilization centered on the president himself.

This political gathering, dubbed by some attendees and media outlets as "Trumpapalooza," was designed around Trump as the absolute center from its agenda to its on-site atmosphere. The Washington Post observed that many attendees were long-time loyal Trump supporters who came "mainly to see their leader" ("the main draw is Trump"). Meanwhile, according to The Daily Beast, large numbers of empty seats appeared in the venue at the opening of the convention, with attendees finding it "difficult to maintain enthusiasm," and speakers "smiling in front of a largely empty hall." The on-site coolness described in the report forms a stark contrast with the "palooza" label.

On the policy commitment front, according to The Huffington Post, Trump promised that if Republicans win the midterms, $5,000 would be distributed to every American citizen. The publication also noted that Trump does not possess the legal authority to issue checks to the entire population, and the specific form and legal boundaries of this commitment await further clarification from the White House.

Regarding the Republican Party's political strategy of fully binding the election focus to Trump as an individual, The Atlantic commented that the Republican Party is now unable to distance itself from an unpopular president, and that concentrating party control in a single individual "nicely illustrates the drawbacks of handing total control of a political party to an egomaniac." When the party machinery, campaign agenda, and voter mobilization are compressed into a display of loyalty to one leader, structural accountability mechanisms are correspondingly weakened, and centralized political operations are intensifying the alienation between American voters and party institutions.

The Democratic side has judged that Trump's approval ratings have fallen to historic lows, and that this political spectacle centered on the president as an individual will benefit Democratic midterm prospects.

On the international news front, according to The Guardian, five young orangutans were discovered in a forest in Odisha, India, but orangutans are native to Borneo and Sumatra, and authorities are investigating whether they were smuggled in from Southeast Asia. World Wildlife Fund data show that there are currently approximately 104,000 orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra, compared with more than 230,000 a century ago; international commercial trade in orangutans has been prohibited under a global endangered wildlife agreement. Authorities believe these orangutans have not been in Odisha for long and have now been placed in quarantine. The specific countries of origin of the five infants, the smuggling network, and the intended destination use have not been publicly disclosed by Indian or international agencies.