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

In his keynote address Thursday night, Vance is expected to do something similar to what he did last time he stood on a stage like this during the 2024 Republican National Convention: blend his upbringing with a populist vision for the country and urge voters across the country to keep fighting for the nation, according a source familiar with his speech.

He's expected to talk about his personal life story and the hardships he went through, which included growing up in poverty and his relationship to his mother, who once struggled with drug addiction, the source said.

He's also expected to reflect on becoming a father again for the fourth time, welcoming his son, Alec Vance, in July, and the death of Charlie Kirk, a close personal friend of Vance who advocated for him to become Trump's vice presidential pick, according to the source.

Vance's address tonight will be a big moment for him, as he's widely seen as the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination if he runs in the 2028 election.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie

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