Administration officials, Republican candidates and party leaders will join President Trump in Dallas on Wednesday for the opening of a two-day Republican National Committee (RNC) midterm convention. The president will give a keynote speech to close out the day. Several GOP lawmakers will give remarks throughout the gathering's first…
Page A2From§Eachthe supper edition — 9 September 2026
RNC promises everybody wants in, delivers them straight to the Epstein files instead.
As it ran on the front
By the invitation, everybody wants to come. That's the message the Republican National Committee sent into its first-ever midterm convention, the flagship event of an off-year built to prove a party at ease with itself. On Wednesday, opening night in Dallas, President Trump kept the line intact. Asked by ABC's Mary Bruce why several Republican candidates were skipping the gathering, he didn't answer the question she asked. He answered a different one, insisting there simply wasn't room for everyone, because everybody wants to come.
The record built quietly against that sentence for more than a week. On August 31, a source familiar with the situation told the Washington Examiner that Sen. Susan Collins would not attend, describing her absence as long-standing practice. Three days later, on September 3, another Examiner exclusive reported that First Lady Melania Trump had no plans to travel to her own party's convention. The same day, the Hill reported that some Republican candidates and lawmakers were quietly opting out altogether, citing a president the paper described as slipping in the polls. And the Examiner reported that convention organizers, with less than a week to go, were still working to offload tickets to an event operatives had taken to calling Trumpalooza, citing concerns about the price of admission.…
…(cont) On September 4, the RNC's turnout problem acquired a stranger footnote. A website advertising itself as the official 2026 RNC Midterm Convention site, gopdallas2026.com, was found redirecting visitors to the Justice Department's page for the Jeffrey Epstein files. Two days later, on September 6, Senate Majority Leader John Thune's name was missing from the list of keynote speakers the RNC had just released — the most senior Republican in the Senate, sitting out the party's biggest room of the cycle.
None of it changed the sentence. By Wednesday night, Sen. Rick Scott was on the convention floor telling CBS what made this year's midterms different, and the president was still telling reporters everybody wants to come — to a hall his majority leader wouldn't headline, his first lady wouldn't attend, and his own website couldn't find without routing through the Justice Department. The invitation stands. So, apparently, does the link.
“They keep saying everybody wants in, but the Senate majority leader's got somewhere else to be, the First Lady's got somewhere else to be, and the tickets were still sitting there days before doors opened. Then you click their own convention website and it walks you straight into the DOJ's Epstein files, like the machine itself got tired of the script. That's not a glitch, that's the closest thing to an honest answer this party's put out all week.”
“The RNC's own convention page routed voters to the DOJ's Epstein files while its majority leader and first lady stayed home.”
The receipts
President Trump is giving a keynote address on Wednesday evening.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) is among the Republican Party’s most notable national leaders not delivering a speech at the first-ever midterm convention in Texas later this week. The Republican National Committee has released the full list of keynote speakers for the party’s convention. Unlike his House counterpart, Thune was…
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Washington Examiner chief political correspondent Byron York said there were some promising events leading up to the midterm elections that could help Republicans regain their footing, including the public outrage regarding a controversial influencer and the tactics of the Republican midterm convention. “Hasan Piker’s vow that he will…
The Hill's "Rising" takes over primetime, presenting live coverage of the Republican National Committee's (RNC) first midterm convention focused on modern American history Sept. 9-10 from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
President Trump hit back at a question Wednesday over why some Republican candidates were skipping the midterm GOP convention in Dallas, saying there isn’t room for everyone. Trump said that “everybody wants to come” to the convention and questioned the reporter, Mary Bruce of ABC, on what outlet she was with.
The Washington Examiner has created a bingo card to use during the Republican National Committee’s 2026 midterm convention, the first of its kind. The two-day conference will feature dozens of speakers, and President Donald Trump will take the stage on both nights. Play along with the Washington Examiner’s bingo card here:
President Donald Trump entered the 2026 midterm primaries with endorsements across the country, backing candidates for the Senate, House, governors’ mansions, and state offices. Most of Trump’s endorsed candidates advanced through their Republican primaries, particularly in congressional races. But several high-profile endorsements fell…
The Republican National Committee Midterm Convention kicked off in Dallas on Wednesday. Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida joins CBS News from the floor to discuss what makes this year's midterms different.
· Susan Collins to skip Republican midterm convention from the morgue, 31 Aug 2026
· Fake RNC midterm convention link reroutes to DOJ Epstein files website from the morgue, 4 Sep 2026
· Some Republicans are planning to skip Trump’s GOP convention from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Republican midterm convention organizers make last-minute push to fill arena for Trump from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
· Melania Trump has no plans to attend RNC’s midterm convention from the morgue, 3 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front.