Trump wants voters to pretend he’s on the ballot. The Republican Party is going along for the ride

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is embracing his inner cowboy, seeking to gallop into this week's Republican convention in Dallas and save the midterm elections for his party just in the nick of time.

As first-of-their-kind festivities open Wednesday, Trump wants to stoke his core supporters' enthusiasm by making Election Day on Nov. 3 all about himself — a referendum on his record at an event he conceived to help his party, even if he's not actually on the ballot.

The question is whether he'll do more to fire up Republicans or Democrats at a moment when his popularity has reached historic lows.

The president is planning to take the stage both nights of the convention, giving a keynote address Wednesday and then closing remarks after Vice President JD Vance gives his own speech the following night.

That means effectively staging a two-day Trump show with a supporting cast that includes some of the party's most vulnerable lawmakers.

“If Trump is in the orbit then everything gets swallowed up into a black hole. It’s just unavoidable,” said Rick Tyler, a Republican strategist and a critic of the president.

The Republican Party is so enamored with the prospect that it is selling $16 beer cozies online depicting the president as the Marlboro Man. They feature the 80-year-old on horseback, with a white Stetson and the word “Dallas” under the trademark red-and-white triangle peak logo where the cigarette maker’s name would normally be.

House Speaker Mike Johnson , who will address the convention, noted that the gathering was Trump’s idea and should be “very instructive, very exciting.”

“We’ll parade our stars across the stage,” he said, making it sound like a political version of the beauty pageants Trump once helped organize.

Republicans familiar with the process said the president was involved in the event's every detail. His control over the program was such, in fact, that anyone pressing for information in recent weeks was told it wasn't yet known because Trump was still making choices.

Despite all the cowboy imagery, it's unclear if the cavalry is coming, however.

MAGA Inc., the president's political organization with a nearly $400 million war chest , announced it is spending $10 million on television and digital advertisements in the Texas Senate race. But that's the first time it has tapped its vast resources in a serious way, even as Republicans are hoping for big help to win many tight races around the country.

A separate group, Securing American Greatness, has begun running ads touting the president’s record heading into the midterms. But its gauzy videos mostly promote Trump and barely mention Congress.

The major broadcast networks haven’t committed to televising most of the convention on each night, and the proceedings will be competing with the kickoff of the NFL season — including games likely going on during both of Trump's speeches.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was skeptical the GOP would get a convention boost.

“I’m not sure what they’re doing," said the Washington Democrat. "They don’t have a message, they have nothing to say. So, I think that will be even more clear.”

Trump, meanwhile, has long believed that the best way to win elections is to have himself as a candidate. He made that explicit during a recent South Carolina rally, telling the crowd, “Pretend, please, that I’m on the ballot."

The president is trying to counter political headwinds that see the party in power usually suffer losses during midterm elections — including during Trump's first term when Democrats flipped the House.

His midterm message has consisted mostly of promoting his record, including his administration cracking down on the U.S.-Mexico border , passing legislation that reduced taxes for workers earning tips and overtime and on seniors' Social Security benefits, and working to cut prescription drug prices .

Still, Trump hasn't made clear how keeping Republicans in control of Congress would address concerns about inflation and an economy many Americans see as weakening , not to mention a war in Iran with no end in sight and Trump's own low approval ratings .

The president decries Democrats as communists , arguing that progressive candidates who notched some key primary wins are too far to the left for the general election.

“Communism is an INHUMAN ideology that has led to DEATH and DESTRUCTION around the World!” Trump posted on his social media site recently.

But Tyler said rallies — and generalized rallying cries slamming Democrats — aren't likely what Republicans need ahead of the midterms. Instead, he said, they need a clear message and major efforts to mobilize voters.

“Trump can turn out two bases, his base and the Democratic base,” Tyler said. “The problem for him is, when he’s not on the ballot, his base never shows up and they’re unlikely to again.”

Trump has endorsed some Republican candidates who won their primaries but may face tougher general election races than the more establishment choices he shunned.

Nowhere is that clearer than in Texas' Senate race, which now could be close despite Democrats not winning statewide office in Texas since 1994 — the nation's longest losing streak.

Democrat James Talarico is looking for an upset after Trump backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton despite years of scandals. He propelled Paxton to a primary win over incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn , who had stronger name recognition and years of experience in Washington.

Having the convention in Dallas "definitely sends a signal that they’re scared about Texas," said Abel Prado, campaign manager for Democratic congressional candidate and Tejano singer Bobby Pulido, who is running against Republican Rep. Monica de la Cruz in the Rio Grande Valley on Texas' border with Mexico.

Trump garnered unusually strong support from some South Texas Hispanic voters in 2024. But Prado said that has largely fallen away, pointing chiefly to frequent immigration raids he said have hurt the district's economy — including slowing a once-booming homebuilding industry, given construction crews' fears about being targeted.

“We’re seeing a very real sense of buyer’s remorse,” Prado said. “Trump always projected this, ‘I am the image of the American Dream.’ But people are starting to realize he only cares about himself.”

There are Republican incumbents, as well as candidates in key House swing districts, who won't be at the convention, believing that campaigning back home is a better use of their time. That includes Michigan Rep. Tom Barrett, whose battleground district includes the state capital of Lansing.

Many others, though, plan to use Dallas to share Trump's spotlight.

“Obviously, you’re out of the district, but it’s a really good opportunity to get in front of people," said Matt Beynon, spokesperson for Pennsylvania Rep. Scott Perry, who is in a fast-growing district in the central part of the state that's being targeted by Democrats.

The list of scheduled speakers includes Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt and the president's son, Donald Trump Jr. Also set to address the crowd are Paxton and Mike Rogers, the Senate nominee in Michigan, where the race is also expected to be close.

Organizers have also built events around everyday Americans, including people who benefited from tax cuts.

“It’s going to be very important,” Trump told the Lt. Dan Podcast with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

“And I did it,” Trump added. “I just came up with the idea.”

Associated Press writers Steven Sloan, Joey Cappelletti and Lisa Mascaro in Washington, Jill Colvin in New York and Mark Levy in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.