What is MAGA land really like? Inside Trump’s Texan convention

0:00I'm Sam Cotes. And I'm Ann Nicole Hoey. Britain has a new Prime Minister and every day, from 7.45 AM, will help you make sense the day ahead in just 20 minutes. That means taking you inside Westminster with our forensic insight, sharp analysis, and the stories behind the headlines. From the battles in Parliament to the conversation shaping government. We'll set you up each morning for the day ahead in British politics. Hit follow and listen to politics at Salmon Ants, wherever you get your podcasts. Just one more time. Because if we lose, you're going to lose your butter, you're going to lose your tax cuts, you're going to lose your safety and security, you're going to lose your wealth. Our country is going through hell. You will be going through hell just like you did just two years ago. Well, that is President Trump closing the night here at the first day of this Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Texas. This is Trump 100.

1:00And today on the podcast, we will take you inside the convention. Good to go. Well, here we go. I think this is the US election season formally kicked off. Look about this is the American Airlines Convention Center in Dallas, Texas. It's 38 degrees. I'm Mark Stone. This is Trump 100 Convention Edition. Let's head in. 2026 for Republican Convention, with a beautiful and our national anthem presented by President-Heltonner, Christopher Marguillo. APPLAUSE Well, I made it on to the floor of the convention center here. I have to say, I have got 2024 vibes going on. This feels like one of those presidential conventions.

2:03That was the Republicans was in Milwaukee back in 2024. These conventions are usually the moment that the candidate has been chosen to be the presidential candidate. It's the moment they're crowned. This convention has no purpose other than to g up the GOP base, the Republican base, to remind the base why it's so important to vote, to remind them what Trump's successes are as he would see it. And to a huge convention center, there are representatives here from all around the country, representatives from every single state. Their states are marked by a stick. And on the top of that stick, the name of each individual state. And at the moment, we're listening to a representative from North Carolina speaking. It's going to go on for quite a long time through the course of the evening. Before we get to the Headline Act, President Trump apparently ate a lot this evening. My guess is it could be a little later, not least, because the emergency shoots of Air Force One opened on the tarmac by accident earlier on.

3:05So that delayed things. Quite how that happened. I have no idea. I think I could spot Rick Scott over there, Senator from Florida. We'll go and try and have a word with him. We're losing breakfast at the moment. Sorry. Hi. We are. Is there a good start? Senator Mark Stone from Sky News. How are you, sir? Very good. How are you? I'm very well, thanks. I very well. I wonder if we can get your sense of this mid-term election. Pretty unusual. It's unusual, but it's fun. Yeah. I mean, the Trump's got a lot to brag about. These elections are really important for the future of our country. Where he's got, he can talk about jobs, 162,000 jobs last month. Talk about securing the border. Talk about fitting all death's hammer down. So he's got a lot to brag about. Some say he's got a lot to worry about as well. I mean, the idea that he could potentially be on a bit of a knife edge here in Texas. That's a worry, isn't it? Paxton's going to win. I usually live in Texas. Texas is not going to vote for somebody that is that wants to destroy our country and destroy our way of life. But are they going to vote for someone who's got so much baggage like Ken Paxton? I think they're going to vote for Paxton. They care. They look, he won't be in the primary.

4:06Texans want somebody that's going to be strong and conservative. Thank you very much. Enjoy. Good accent. Good accent. There you go. Get's a long way here. But Texas, we know who God is. We're talking about Jesus. I said to King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Alpha and the Omega, the beginning in the end. That's our God. That's America. We love our God. Amen. I love the hat. Thank you. Tell me about it. Is it new? It is semi new. I got it in Milwaukee at the last convention. Well, that was like a proper convention.

5:06That was the moment that Trump was formally made the candidate again. What's this one all about? I think this one is about keeping them momentum going. We put a lot of wins on the board and when it keeps that going. Is it some say it's because he's a bit worried or the Republicans in general are a bit worried about maybe not doing so well in the midterms? I don't think that's true. I think that if you look at the polls, it's a lot tighter than it usually is from midterms. I think that the American people, while they may have some complaints about some things, they're not turning toward Democrats. Yeah, but they may not come out and vote for Trump. That's what this is for. We're trying to get the vote out, get the energy up, get the enthusiasm up, and so that's over here. What have President Trump's top three achievements been in the past two years? I think he's the president of peace. He's just started a war. It's for the next generations, for our children's children, for the, they can live in peace. Hang on a minute. What? Starting a war in Iran. I don't know if I call it a war.

6:09We're trying to handle it. It's clearly a war. Come on. We've been at war for over 40 years of Iran. And so they've called more Americans than I can count, but I know. And so, and so, and you know, this is about protecting our children's children because they have a state admission of destroying Israel and the United States. And we can't let that happen. Okay, the last two achievements. So it's it's it's the president of peace. What else? I would say he is, I mean, no tax on tips. That's a good one. I think a lot of American workers really appreciate that. And he's definitely the data energy infrastructure president. We're entering into the new era of AI. And we have to make sure that we can compete globally. And he is prioritizing that in a very big way. Enjoy the evening. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for talking to us. From the lone star state, Ken Paxton. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much.

7:12I will fight to preserve the American dream. James Tolerico is running to destroy it. He is a democratic socialist who never met a tax increase. He didn't love. As a matter of fact, he voted to tax your income in Texas. We all love that. He wants to tax your tips. He wants to tax your overtime. And he even wants to tax your social security. California already has two senators. It doesn't need a third. So the speech you just heard there was Ken Paxton. Look, if President Trump is to prevent an upset down here in Texas in November at the midterms, Ken Paxton is the guy he needs to rely on. Not a national politician. He is at the moment the Attorney General down here in Texas.

8:13But he carries a huge amount of baggage. For some, he's great. For other Republicans, he really isn't. But he does now, because of this convention, have a national platform. He hopes his sound bites will be played across the country over the course of the day ahead. So he hopes. That's as long as President Trump doesn't say something completely wacky later on. Anyway, Ken Paxton is the Republicans' hope down here in Texas. If he gets to the Senate, well, that's good news for the Republicans. If he doesn't, and instead James Talleriko, the Democrat gets to the Senate from down here in Texas, well, that is the big upset. Well, I've taken a break from the madness of the Convention floor. I've found a quiet corner in the media allocated area. Actually, not very many people here. No one in this particular part of it. It's one of the restaurants, I guess, from what is normally a sports arena

9:14common-dead by the Republican Party over the course of the next two days. What's really interesting being down there, quite apart from the fact it does feel, I've got a lot of deja vu. It does feel like a proper presidential convention of the type you get just before the presidential election. But beyond that, what's really clear is that here, at least, the people that have turned up here, they still love Donald Trump. The allure of Trump or as one Democrat said to me the other day, the orange glow of Trump, that is very much still here in this place. But of course it is. Why else would they turn up to this convention? The question is what do people beyond here? Republicans beyond here, you could possibly say normal Republicans, of the type we don't really turn up to these events. What do they think about Donald Trump? And I think the answer there will be a bit different from the answer here. I'll be black on the floor in a bit for Trump's speech. But a few minutes ago I bumped into an old face, somebody called Pastor Lorenzo Soule,

10:14I first met him a couple of years ago in his church in Michigan. He was a gang leader once turned preacher, big, big fan of Donald Trump, still preaching the word of President Trump. Mark Stone from Strait Island. How are you? Are you in? Man, did you get younger? You're a trauma. You haven't lost your faith in Trump? You know what? Is Jesus' pictrum? He did it, Jesus did it. Can you imagine? Look at him. Look what he did. I preach it again. Me and you give me hope. No, no, no. I'm not going to hang on. I'm going to stop the preaching for a second. Let's talk about Trump. How has he done the past two years? Beautiful. Really? The greatest president of all time. Why? Well, number one, he's still talking about the elections, which were cheetah. Which I have to prove the people in evidence that they're cheating in the elections, number one. Yes. Number one, number two, he allows a kid like me from the East Side of Detroit to be here on the biggest stage. That's number, that's personal. Number three, what he's done with tariffs. Are you kidding me? He's making America be able to make money again. We do. He's making money. He's got a cause huge damage in your state with the tariffs.

11:17Surely, because of this war, because of this trade war with Canada. That's not what Barry Maribar would say that. I was just with Mary Barre. OK. So you don't think so? Lastly, he's just started a war in Iran. No, the war's not going well. No, the war came on his on his street. Remember what happened with Jerusalem, Israel, they came against our best friend. You wouldn't want anybody to come against your best friend. Somebody try to hurt you out of her thumb. See you soon, Pastor. Now there are no Trump rallies, complete without YMCA, and one other song as well by one particular country singer. Lee Greenwood, it's good to see you. Thank you. Just sing that tune for us. Just the first few bars. I'm proud to be an American. We're released. I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died who gave that right to me. And that's important, because we go all the way back to the Civil War. Not just a revolution or war, God bless you for giving us this country, but also the Civil War in which we had to prove who we were to ourselves.

12:18And then we had World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam. And we still have not found a way that we can't have war on this planet. It bothers me a lot. But we've got the greatest president right now, President Trump. And I've been through four different administrations from President Reagan, President Bush 41, President Bush 43, and now Donald Trump. And it's been always my privilege to stand next to the president. I will sing tonight. Some say he's kind of losing his way a bit. I don't know where that comes from. From the very beginning, he loves art. He loves music. He loves the military. He loves the red, white, and blue of our country. He has a flair for the art. He has a flair also for putting people on notice when something's coming. And then he just kind of pulls it back. So I think in a conversation, he makes people just kind of wonder what's coming next. And that's what he's all about. Right. And lastly, there is a suggestion that he's having this midterm convention, very unusual, not being done before, because he is a bit worried,

13:19because the Republicans are a bit worried about the successes in November. I'm a bit worried as well. I'm worried for socialism, communism. And I think the president's all aware of that. This midterm election is more important than just getting a Republican in the White House and keeping the Senate or the House representatives. It is about retaining American sovereignty as a Republican. Lee Grimmer, thank you very much for talking to us. Thank you for talking to Trump. 100th. Have a good evening. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Well, we're back on the floor, because as you can probably hear, President Trump has just started. Vote Republican and we will leave the world in our dust for generations. Yay! Yay! Woo! What is that? What are you hearing? We're here! We're here! We're here! We're here! Remember, this midterm convention is really very unusual. Conventions are usually held just before a presidential election. They're not held before the midterms. The White House is it up for grabs at the midterms.

14:21It's the House and the Senate. And the Republicans are worried they might lose one or both of those. And so Trump is out here, busy telling people, pretend I'm on the ballot. So I'm here to give you two a chance to be on the ballot. I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot. Have a look over here as well. You can see the Vice President, his cabinet. They're all seated there. And they seem to be loving every minute of it. He is, of course, trumpeting all his achievements as he sees them. But he's doing it to a very friendly crowd. How do you do that, Mr. President? And here is my promise. If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our economic, tremendous economic success, like in history, we've never had anything like what's happening. But because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend

15:25to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000. Well, that's pretty remarkable. I think he has just said that if the Republicans win in November, he'll give every American citizen $5,000. I think some might say there's a word for that. Now, we've done the maths. And President Trump's policy to give $5,000 to every American if the House and the Senate go to the Republicans suggests that that would require a total of $1.35 trillion. And President Trump, they're ending a remarkable and marathon convention speech. What an extraordinary policy announcement to make. You can imagine the laws in this arena were huge. They love all that sort of thing.

16:27But there are huge questions. I mean, some will call this a straightforward bribe. If we win, we'll give every American $5,000. So in this hall, they love him. The question, though, is beyond this hall, how much is the Trump's draw? How much is that still there among Republicans around the country? We'll see. What did you think of this speech? Oh, I thought it was wonderful. They touched on everything that he should have to help with the midterm. What did you make of the announcement that if the Republicans win the House and the Senate, he'll give every American $5,000? I thought that was surprised, but everything great. Sounds a bit like a bribe. No, I don't think so. No? I don't think so. But the way he framed it, he was basically saying, if you vote for me and we win, I'll give you $5,000. In a way. Yeah, it was a pretty clear. Russia buys people's votes. I don't think he's going to have to buy votes.

17:28No, I don't think he's going to have to do that. I think it was pretty clear that America is a little bit worried about what the opposition is doing right now because the left, it's gone kind of off the rails. And I think I just don't think that there's going to be that much of a requirement. I think the opportunity is great. I think the fact that so much money is coming into the country for investment, for an investment. I think that the advances in manufacturing right now, we've got increased in personal income. Yeah. And we're going to go those things will make sense and the possibility, obviously we have a massive debt. We've got to get that paid down. But I think the economic opportunity with $5,000 to every American adult would actually very strongly stimulate the economy as well. So you could call it a bribe or whatever, but it's actually a stimulus package. Well, that was a marathon. I think it was over 90 minutes long.

18:28One of the longest speeches I've heard from President Trump. They're crowding there. Absolutely. Loved it. Every minute of it. We're now trying to find our way back up to our workspace where we're going to try and put all of this together, make some sense of it. Look, for me, there was one really, really surprising policy announcement. And that was this, I don't know what you call it, really a dividend, he's calling it the Trump dividend. He's saying that if the Republicans win both the House and the Senate in November, that's the upper House and the lower House of Congress. If they win them both, then he will give every adult American in the country $5,000, $5,000 for every adult American in the country if they win the House and the Senate. Now, I mean, some might say that sounds a little bit like a bribe, but actually trying to find the escalators. They seem to be all becoming down now, not going up. Anyway, sounds a little bit like a bribe. Absolutely not the guy. The folk in there said, it's not a bribe. It's a dividend.

19:29It's encouragement to go out and vote because under Trump, the economy's doing so well, the tariffs are bringing in so much money that what that means is that there'll be enough money to be able to give every adult American this money. He did say there were a couple of catches. He said, first of all, what did he say? First of all, that it has to be spent in the United States. The money has to be spent here. It can't be spent abroad. Well, that raises the question, how on earth can you make sure that that money is spent in the US and not abroad? And then how much is it going to cost? Well, that's an awful lot of money. Where's that going to come from? He says it'll come from the tariff money that's coming in. Loads of questions. It's very, very interesting. And I think we'll be very exciting for a lot of Republicans, very controversial for many more people. What a surprise. We love you, President Donald. Jay Trump. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for attending.

20:30We hope you enjoy today's program. Have a wonderful evening. Safe travels. And we look forward to seeing you for part two tomorrow of this historic 2026 Republican Convention. It's gone 1am here in Dallas. I'm outside the convention center now. A marathon speech, yes, but a marathon day as well. In fact, the only person that's left in there that we found is my colleague David Smith from the Guardian still working hard. So it's the Brits working harder than anyone else. It seems anyway. Did Donald Trump move the dial with that remarkable announcement? $5,000 for every American if they win the House and the Senate in November. That was a really interesting controversial moment for sure. Not more broadly, did he touch on some of the issues that we've heard Texans down here worried about Republican Texans who were really worried about things like agriculture, data centers, no real mention of either of those issues.

21:30Did he move the dial? We will see. An interesting first day. Trump will be back tomorrow. Jay-D Van speaking tomorrow as well. Another whole day of it. But that's it from us, Trump 100 at Sky.uk is the email address. I'll be back tomorrow night. David and Martha were the special episode over the course of the weekend. For all you insiders, remember to subscribe for Bifeng.