Trump Tells Midterm Voters: ‘Pretend That I’m On the Ballot’

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

I'm Mike McNerney, Equity Investment Strategist. Markets move fast. My mission is to provide market insights to our clients that help turn uncertainty into opportunity.

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Luke Vargas (0:17)

President Trump tries boosting Republican candidates ahead of the midterms by tying them to him.

Donald Trump (0:24)

So I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot.

Gyorgy Konchev (0:30)

I'm on the ballot.

Donald Trump (0:33)

Just one more time.

Luke Vargas (0:35)

Plus, Iran shows a new appetite for escalation as it takes direct aim at US forces and data center developers consider whether going nuclear can quiet growing public backlash against them. It's Thursday, September 10th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

President Trump has capped off the first night of Republicans' midterm convention in Dallas, issuing a string of campaign promises in a bid to energize his GOP base. Trump wrapped up his nearly two-hour speech by pledging to make his tax cuts permanent, pass broad health care legislation, and much more in the final years of his term. But our Washington coverage chief Damian Paletta was most curious how he'd assess the war in Iran, which has hit Americans' wallets going into the final weeks of the campaign.

Damian Paletta (1:30)

He said even though he knew it was going to drive up the cost of gas, something that he acknowledged remains the case, he had to do this in order to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.

Donald Trump (1:42)

You know, it happens to me all the time.

Donald Trump (1:44)

Guys come up, you know, I wish you didn't do the war in Iran, gas leans up, and I say, well, let me ask you just smart people.

Let me ask you, not too many of them, by the way. Let me ask you one question. Can Iran have a nuclear weapon?

Donald Trump (1:58)

Absolutely not.

Damian Paletta (2:00)

Now, this did receive a lot of applause here at the convention, but it's something that many Americans are wrestling with, especially as oil prices continue to go up and gasoline prices are rising as well. It remains a very sensitive issue for many Republicans, and it gets to the heart of this affordability theme that Democrats are really trying to press on Republicans heading in to the final weeks before the midterms.

Luke Vargas (2:23)

And in an apparent bid to blunt that message, Trump took a big swing on affordability, telling voters that if they helped Republicans to retain control of both the House and Senate, every adult citizen will get a $5,000 check.

Donald Trump (2:37)

Very much like a successful company will do a cash distribution to its shareholders. Or like last year when I gave our great members of the military $1,776, remember?

Luke Vargas (2:54)

Damian said that pledge, which resembles last year's unfulfilled promise of $2,000 tariff dividends, marks Trump's biggest election gambit yet.

Damian Paletta (3:04)

This would essentially be like a $1 trillion stimulus check on behalf of the US government to perhaps more than $200 million Americans. Now, President Trump does like to give out stimulus checks, and they can prove quite popular with voters. But this is a moment when inflation remains a key concern for many Americans and businesses. And checks like this on this scale could fuel an inflation that the Federal Reserve and the US government has struggled to contain for several years. So there could be a real debate for many Republicans running for Congress, running for the House, and running for the Senate, whether they would support such a move, or perhaps they feel like this is President Trump's party, these are his policies, he knows how to do populist economic messages, and this is the kind of thing they're going to have to get behind.

Luke Vargas (3:57)

Well, in Dallas last night, Trump promised that oil prices would go down as soon as we win the war with Iran. Something he said was, quote, taking place right now.

But his foreign correspondent, Gyorgy Konchev, reports, the picture on the ground suggests otherwise, as Iran intensifies attacks on US Navy warships, including using warheads possibly acquired with help from Russia or China. While CENTCOM reports that US warships have thus far evaded those attacks, Gyorgy said that any direct hits risk triggering a fierce response and a return to full scale war.

Gyorgy Konchev (4:32)

So this by Iran is ultimately a significant gamble that with those attacks, it can make the state of school untenable for the US. And the reason for that strategy is because the economic pressure that has been building over the past months, now it is coming to a head because Iran cannot export any oil from the Persian Gulf since mid-July, since the US instituted its blockade again. So by some estimates, Iran will be out of exportable oil as soon as next month. The revenues it's still getting are also going to be depleted very soon. So ultimately, Iran feels that the status quo is untenable and that's why it's getting to more aggressive action.