AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTYou have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.Republican politicians, donors and lobbyists have been busy networking and partying on the sidelines of a midterm convention that is partly a fund-raiser.Listen · 3:56 min Arena suites at the American Airlines Center in Dallas were sponsored by super PACs and at least two artificial intelligence groups.Credit...Kenny Holston/The New York TimesBy Theodore SchleiferTheodore Schleifer reported from the ballrooms and parties of the Republican midterm convention in Dallas.Sept. 10, 2026, 2:45 p.m. ETFor more than two hours before President Trump spoke at his midterm convention in Dallas, he was secluded about a mile and a half north at an old-money hotel on a pink stucco, Tuscan-style campus.Guests, one in a red MAGA hat, another emerging from a silver Bentley, flowed past black Suburbans and security and emergency vehicles that surrounded the hotel, the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek. Inside, Mr. Trump was participating in a meeting with MAGA Inc., his powerful super PAC, which has begun to unleash some of its hundreds of millions of dollars to help Republicans in the midterms.That “private event,” as the hotel called it on a placard, was one of several cash-focused gatherings that Mr. Trump sprinkled into his midterm convention schedule. After all, the extravaganza was partly a fund-raiser, in addition to being a rally for the midterms.In multiple levels of arena suites sponsored by super PACs and at least two artificial intelligence groups, Republicans toasted donors who could be sorted based on the caliber of the suite-assignments and credentials on their lanyards.Mr. Trump and Vice President JD Vance both headlined fund-raising events for the Republican National Committee, and plenty of other ambitious Republicans, like Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, shook the money tree for their favored causes and candidates. Mr. Vance’s luncheon was expected to raise $2 million for the Republican National Committee, a person familiar with the event said. Mr. Trump’s event charged $250,000 a head, according to a copy of the invitation, and $88,600 for a picture with the president.And then there were the hotels. The Ritz-Carlton. The Joule. The Crescent Court. Lobbyists filled the lobbies, which — at least until you hit the magnetometers — doubled as meeting places for impromptu catch-ups with top Trump officials like Chris LaCivita and Meredith O’Rourke.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT