President Donald Trump on Thursday night closed the first-ever GOP midterm convention by leading supporters in a pledge to vote Republican.

President Donald Trump makes an address during the second night of the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Ian Halperin/UPI UPI President Donald Trump greets delegates after speaking as the Republican midterm convention comes to a close at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI Delegates hold up letters reading "TRUMP" as Vice President JD Vance makes a keynote address during the second night of the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI Vice President JD Vance makes a keynote address during the second night of the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI Vice President JD Vance makes a keynote address during the second night of the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Ian Halperin/UPI UPI Vice President JD Vance makes a keynote address during the second night of the Republican midterm convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI Attendees hold a poster commemorating slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk during the second day of the Republican midterm convention at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up after speaking as the Republican midterm convention comes to a close at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI Donald Trump Jr, son of President Donald Trump, speaks during the second day of the Republican midterm convention at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the second day of the Republican midterm convention at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI UPI Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr., speaks during the second day of the Republican midterm convention at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, on Thursday, September 10, 2026. Photo by Ian Halperin/UPI UPI

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Sept. 11 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Thursday night closed the first-ever GOP midterm convention by leading supporters in a pledge to vote Republican as a personal favor to him, while Vice President JD Vance framed Republicans as the party of common sense and the Democrats as "the party of crazies."

The commander-in-chief, who spoke for nearly two hours the night previous, had those in attendance at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas, Texas, raise their right hands and repeat after him.

"I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the united states that loves us so much that he can't even breathe that I will go out with my family, my friends, I'll do it anyway, I don't care if I'm registered or not I'm going to try and cheat like hell like they do," he said.

"And we're going to vote on November 3rd or we're going to vote before that."

As his approval ratings have steadily dropped amid an unpopular war and divisive policies, Trump has increasingly focused on November's midterm elections, having warned Republicans that if they lose the House, Democrats will impeach him.

For more than a year, he has pushed Republican-led states to undertake unorthodox mid-decade redistricting to create additional GOP-favored House districts, backed election legislation that Democrats and civil rights advocates warn will disenfranchise voters and proposed the two-day convention to shore up GOP support.

The previous night, he vowed to give every adult American a $5,000 check he called the "Trump Dividend" if Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate following the November election, a promise he doubled down on Thursday night. He has offered few specifics on how the proposal would be funded or implemented, and it would require congressional approval.

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As the final speaker of the night on Thursday, he again urged Republicans to view the midterm elections as if he were on the ballot, repeatedly imploring them to vote GOP.

"You got to do me the biggest favor you've ever done me, you've got to do this for me, you got to pretend I'm on the ticket. I'm on the ticket. I'm on the ticket. He's on the ticket. Pretend I'm on the ticket because this is going to turn out to be one of the most important elections," he said, before warning that if the Democrats gain control of Congress, "they'll destroy everything we've built."

"They'll ruin our country, so on election day, Nov. 3, you got to do me a favor, you got to get out and vote and you got to pretend I'm on the ballot because, in a way, I am on the ballot."

Trump was preceded onstage by Vance, a presumed candidate to take up the MAGA mantle and be the GOP presidential nominee in 2028, who continued with Trump's characterization of Democrats as radicals set to destroy the so-called American way of life, while saying Republicans will need to fight to preserve it.

Vance presents himself as a Christian family man, and on Thursday night, championed traditional family structures and the idea of the United States as the "birthright" of every American citizen, arguing that both were under attack by Democrats.

He accused Democrats of wanting to "abolish" the nuclear family, referring to a since deleted-tweet from 2021 by William Lawrence, the Democratic nominee for Michigan's 7th District, that said "[expletive] isolation and [expletive] the nuclear family domicile." Lawrence has since disavowed some of the positions expressed in those deleted posts.

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"This fall, the Democrats are running candidates who will tell your children what they are allowed to say, how they are allowed to live and, importantly, who they ought to hate, because that is what the Democratic Party is about in 2026," Vance said.

"It's not about you, it's about foreign fraudsters and it's about who they hate and we have to send their [expletive] packing in November. We got to a send a message this November that the country does not belong to the radicals, it does not belong to the bureaucrats, it does not belong to the highest bidder. This country was handed down from our parents and their parents before them. We received this national birthright and we're going to fight for it by electing Republicans this November."

He then alleged that the Democratic Party was moving further left, seemingly referring to the Democratic socialists who won their primaries and are on November's ballots. He said the Democratic Party was "doubling down on the crazy," stating that the "few reasonable Democrats" lost their primaries to "extremists who openly hate our nation."

"But you got to ask, if it's not love of country, you got to ask what is it that drives this new generation of radical Democrats? It's not new policies. They'll say the same stuff," he said.

"I think that what's new about them is what motivates them is a new type of hardcore hatred."

Vance did not explicitly refer to the war in Iran, but appeared to allude to it when he said there are some who do not agree with all of the Republicans' policies.

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"Do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Don't give the country over to a bunch of crazy people you happen to disagree with us on a policy issue here or there," he said.

"I'm not asking anybody to agree on every single policy of the administration. What I'm asking you to do is to recognize the contrast with the radicals and recognize the achievements of that last 18 months. We have done a lot, my friends, and we can do a lot more if we fight together."