Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued that "it's a time for choosing" in the upcoming elections, arguing Trump is urging voters to prevent the "socialist hellscape" he says America will turn into if Republicans lose their majority -- while presenting the economy in positive terms.

"As it turns out, Washington wasn't incapable of working for the American people. All we needed was a new president," Bessent said, later adding, "President Trump has turned this country around once before, and he's doing it again."

Bessent also touted Trump's tariffs strategy.

"The president's plan was never just a tax cut, never just a tax cut. His economic program is bolstered by trade deals and deregulation, and tonight, a new industrial super cycle is moving," he said. "From investment into production, blueprints to paychecks, everything from GDP to factory payrolls is firing up."

Despite costs rising today as well, Bessent pointed to cost-of-living pressures in previous years, and blamed "the radical left" for it.

-ABC News' Fritz Farrow

As the president began his speech, there were several rows of empty seats in some pockets in the American Airlines Center.

Trump often brags about crowd size and loves to see a packed arena.

-ABC News’ Rachel Scott

Trump told the crowd at American Airlines Center that Republicans need to vote like he's on the ballot in November.

"This has been the most successful two years, financially and every other way in the history of the presidency," Trump said.

"So I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot. Just one more time, because if we lose, you're going to lose your border. 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," he said.

One of the major themes of the convention is Republicans pushing what they call common-sense policies compared to Democrats and Florida GOP gubernatorial candidate Rep. Byron Donalds discussed the commonality that Texas and Florida share in building policies based on that.

"Florida and Texas have something absolutely essential in common. Our two states prove every single day that Republican policies built on common sense work for the American people," Donalds said.

Turning his attention to Democrats, Donalds said that they created the affordability crisis and that Americans should not trust them to fix it.

"But let me ask all of you here tonight: Do you let the arsonist become the firefighter? Because make no mistake, the Democrats created the inflation that's crippling families, and we, the Republican Party, we have the resumé and the credentials and the plans and the policies to get our country back on track," Donalds said.

-ABC News' Hannah Demissie