Trump News

Festivities underway in advance of Dallas' dueling Trump-Beto rallies

The Trump train is pulling into town.

Trump's coming to town and the action is already underway.

President Donald Trump will appear at a campaign rally at American Airlines Center on October 17, and 24 hours in advance, there's a handful of people camped out on the sidewalk outside the venue.

Trump is in Dallas to rally the troops, but his event is not the only one in town.

Democratic Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke has scheduled a dueling event called the Rally Against Fear, which will take place in Grand Prairie, calling it "an opportunity to stand up what we believe in: a country defined not by fear, but by hope, ambition, aspiration and our willingness to work together, despite the differences, to make sure that we achieve them."

The O'Rourke rally takes place at the Theatre at Grand Prairie at 6 pm. Trump's rally begins at 7 pm.

Trump's arrival is also being met by a group called the Oath Keepers, who announced on their website, and on a site called AmmoLand, that they're seeking volunteers to help "protect Trump supporters" during the Thursday rally.

"We have serious concerns for the safety of attendees as they walk from their vehicles to the venue, and then especially as they walk back to their vehicles in the dark afterward," the post says, before offering alarmed descriptions of "antifa" behavior such as hitting people on the head with a bike lock.

Oath Keepers, which has been described by its founder as "the right-wing version of the ACLU," are likely to be easily identified, as they're big open-carry fans.

According to the Observer, the Democratic Socialists of America's North Texas Chapter and a group called We Vape We Vote will also hold protests outside the Trump rally.

On October 16, Dallas Morning News reporter Jesus Jiminez tweeted photos of people outside AAC who were seemingly camping out overnight in advance of the ~~show~~ rally, some coming in from other cities.

But as one response notes of the sparse crowd, "Lining up this early appears to be completely unnecessary." Another suggests that the only reason campers would be there is if they're getting paid, saying, "Doubt their pay to be there includes hotel accommodations."

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working hard

Texas clocks in as one of America's 10 hardest working states for 2026

Photo by Greeshma Gangadharan on Unsplash

Texas has been one of the top 10 hardest-working states in the country for almost a decade.

Texans pride themselves on being industrious, and a new report has confirmed Texas as one of the 10 most hardworking states in America in 2026.

The Lone Star State claimed the No. 7 spot this year in a slight dip from its 2025 ranking, where it appeared in the top five. Texas last ranked 7th in 2024, but the state has consistently appeared among the top 10 for nearly a decade.

WalletHub determined the rankings after analyzing 10 "direct" and "indirect" work factors across all 50 states, and then graded each metric on a 100-point scale, where a score of 100 signified the "hardest working." Analysts then examined each state’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states.

There was only a 10.32-point difference between Texas and South Dakota, who claimed the top spot as America's hardest working state in 2026 with a score of 64.59 out of a possible 100 points.

Texas ranked 6th nationally in the "direct" work factors category, which examined the following six metrics:

The state's average workweek hours.
Employment rates.
The share of households where no adults work.
The share of workers leaving vacation time unused.
The share of "engaged" workers — those that are "involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work and workplace," as defined by Gallup.
The rate of "idle youth" — individuals aged 18-24 who are not currently enrolled in school, not working, and have no degree beyond a high school diploma or GED.

Texas ties with Louisiana for the second highest average workweek hours nationwide, with Alaska topping the list with the No. 1 longest workweeks in America. Alaska is the only state where workers clock in more than 40 hours per week at their jobs, with WalletHub reporting Alaskans work 41.4 hours on average weekly.

In the "indirect" work factors category — which encompassed workers' average commute times, the share of workers with multiple jobs, annual volunteer hours per resident, and the average leisure time spent per day — Texas ranked 36th nationwide.

Here's how WalletHub ranked Texas in three individual metrics:

No. 10 – Average commute times
No. 20 – Average leisure time spent per day
No. 30 – Employment rates

According to the World Economic Forum, Americans clock in about 1,800 hours at work per year on average, which is 468 more hours per year than workers in Germany. And many are leaving vacation time on the table, WalletHub says.

"Even when given the chance to take time off, many Americans won’t, as nearly half of workers don't expect to use all of their allotted vacation days," the report said. "It is possible to work hard without overdoing it, though. Hard work is key to success, and the residents of some states understand that better than others."

Source: WalletHub

The top 10 hardest working states in America in 2026 are:

No. 1 – South Dakota
No. 2 – North Dakota
No. 3 – Alaska
No. 4 – Hawaii
No. 5 – Wyoming
No. 6 – Nebraska
No. 7 – Texas
No. 8 – New Hampshire
No. 9 – Tennessee
No. 10 – Georgia

texas reports labor day wallethub