GOP midterm convention: Trump directs crowd in a pledge to himself

Senate Majority Leader John Thune dodged questions in an interview Thursday about whether the Senate could deliver the votes necessary to approve the $5,000 dividend checks Trump promised at the convention Wednesday night.

"Well that's a good question,” he told Fox News, “and we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Obviously the president, the condition he put on it is elect us. And I think the focus, the emphasis he was making there and I think this is a clear one between us and the Democrats is he wants more money in the pockets of the American people.”

Approving $5,000 checks for Americans would normally require 60 votes in the Senate, though if Republicans retain the majority in both chambers they could try to use the budget reconciliation process to sidestep that.

Thune was also asked whether Republicans would deliver additional tax cuts.

"We will take another run at it, you bet. I mean obviously we did a lot last summer with the working families tax cuts legislations but there are things in tax policy that we looked at that didn't make it into that bill and obviously we are going to be looking at every opportunity we can to allow the American people to keep more of what they earn and put money in their pockets and not in the pockets of big government and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.," he said.

-ABC News’ Allison Pecorin

The midterm convention is a prime fundraising opportunity, with elected officials and politicians at different levels taking part.

Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who is looking to close the massive financial gap between Democratic opponent James Talarico and himself, had a fundraising brunch Thursday in Dallas, which featured Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a source confirmed to ABC News.

That follows Trump-affiliated MAGA Inc.'s announcement Saturday that it would spend $10 million on Paxton’s Senate bid.

At a Republican National Committee event Thursday morning, Vice President JD Vance, who also serves as finance chair, raised $2 million for the party, a separate source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News.

Ahead of the start of the convention on Tuesday, Rockbridge, a secretive donor network closely aligned with Vance, held a gathering to kick off the event that included Cabinet members, lawmakers and major GOP donors, two sources confirmed to ABC News. The group, which has been influential in conservative politics, was founded by Vance and investor Chris Buskirk in 2019.

-ABC News’ Hannah Demissie

DALLAS -- On the second day of the GOP midterm convention, a delegation of four House Democrats blasted Trump's promise of a $5,000 "dividend" as an "empty promise," and promised to take back authority over tariffs, restore healthcare funding and hold the Trump administration accountable if they regain control of the House.

Responding to Trump's promise to give $5,000 to every adult U.S citizen on the condition that Republicans maintain control of Congress, California Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, called the president a "known liar."

"The dividend is not happening," Garcia said. "He promised a dividend on tariffs that didn't happen. He promised a dividend on DOGE that didn't happen. He promised some strange dividend from Air Force One, what, six months ago that never happened, and so there's no one in the country that thinks somehow this new dividend is actually going to happen."

California Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove of the Judiciary Committee told ABC News that Trump's promise sounded like a "quid-pro-quo" to her.

"In the height of desperation and angst because he sees that his numbers are in the big toilet, he talked about a $5,000 check if they win. So not only is it an empty promise because he hasn't delivered on any of the others, this one came with strings attached."

-ABC News' Juhi Doshi and Lalee Ibssa

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, flanked by a few other Democratic governors in Louisville, Kentucky, told reporters on Thursday that President Donald Trump's promise of $5,000 checks to Americans if Republicans hold Congress is because the president is the “briber in chief."

"Last night, the president made himself the 'briber in chief,'" Beshear said after Trump’s promise on Wednesday night to give "every adult citizen" a $5,000 "dividend" check on the condition that Republicans maintain control of Congress.

"Where are those $2,000 rebates he promised all Americans? They absolutely never materialized," Beshear, who is attending the Democratic Governors Association’s fall meeting, later said.

Beshear told ABC News that he would celebrate how Trump asked voters at the Republicans' midterm convention to pretend "I'm on the ballot" in November.

"If Donald Trump wants to hold the convention saying this election is about him, I fully support his decision to hold the convention saying this election is totally about him. He's telling people to pretend that he's on the ballot, I want people to pretend that he's on the ballot,” Beshear said. "If you are for tariffs, vote for Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. If you are for gas being higher, vote for Donald Trump, the Republican candidate. Otherwise, vote for the Democrat."

-ABC News' Oren Oppenheim