A “Welcome to Dallas” video plays in Victory Plaza ahead of the GOP’s convention-style rally Sept. 9-10 at the American Airlines Center.
Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump says next week’s Dallas convention will be aimed at helping Republicans win roughly 35 races that could determine control of Congress, with Ken Paxton’s Senate contest among the biggest.
Trump said the first-of-its-kind GOP midterm gathering is intended to generate the attention, enthusiasm and party unity normally associated with a presidential nominating convention.
“The midterms, people talk about it, it’s very important, but there’s no convention,” Trump recalled telling others. “Why don’t we have a convention? You could call it a midterm convention. I wouldn’t use the term ‘mini convention’ because it’s really not that mini . . . It’s going to be big stuff.”
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His remarks, made in an episode of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s podcast released Wednesday, were Trump’s most extensive yet about the Sept. 9-10 event at American Airlines Center, home of the Dallas Mavericks and what Trump called a “great basketball arena.”
He also hailed the support of Miriam Adelson, the billionaire Mavericks owner and a major Trump donor.
Organizers say the convention-style rally is expected to draw 20,000 attendees for two days of speeches and festivities. Anti-Trump protesters also are planning demonstrations, although authorities have not said if they will be allowed near the arena.
Trump estimated that Republican control of Congress rests on the outcome of about 30 House contests and five Senate races.
President Donald Trump says he proposed a midterm convention to bring the GOP the attention and unity before the November elections.
Francisco Seco/Associated Press
One of the biggest, he said, is the Texas Senate race between Paxton, the Republican attorney general, and Democrat James Talarico, a state representative from Austin.
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“The bottom line is he was a phenomenal attorney general,” Trump said of Paxton. “Some people don’t like things about him, but he was the best there is.”
Targeting Texas
He echoed Republican attacks on Talarico as too liberal for Texas.
“He will never vote for Texas,” Trump said of Talarico. “He’ll vote for ideology that no person from Texas wants.”
Talarico has dismissed such attacks as a Republican playbook of “distraction and division,” saying they are intended to divert attention from Paxton’s legal and ethical controversies.
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Talarico is campaigning on affordability and rooting out corruption. Many of his positive ads feature his teaching background, family and concerns about inflation.
He has far outpaced Paxton in fundraising and TV ad spending since the attorney general defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican runoff in May.
Patrick, a fellow Republican, thanked the president for bringing the convention to Dallas as the two reminisced about a Trump rally at the American Airlines Center early in his 2016 presidential run.
“Everybody said, ‘Wow, something’s going on here, that arena is packed,’” Trump said.
Workers prepare for the upcoming Republican National Convention at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Monday, August 31, 2026.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
Previewing his message for the convention, Trump talked up his administration’s policies on trade and prescription drug prices and highlighted the package of GOP priorities known as the Big Beautiful Bill.
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Trump also bragged about his support in Texas, including among Hispanic voters, saying his administration has secured the border and created jobs.
“We just have to get that word out as Republicans,” Trump told Patrick. “We have to get you, and we have to get the governor, and we have to get Ken, we have to get you guys elected.”