Conservatives cheer Trump speech against globalism
Nationalistic speech hits a chord with conference attendees
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — A year ago, Donald Trump skipped the nation’s pre-eminent conference of conservatives, underscoring the friction between the populist candidate and many of the warring factions in his party during a heated presidential primary season.
Friday, Trump returned to the Conservative Political Action Conference with the blunt force of a conqueror, planting his brand of nationalist, anti-globalist populism like a flag.
His speech, with rhetoric that even Trump said would have been too controversial at the event even a year ago, marked his takeover of the conservative movement, one of several signs of his dominance throughout the conference, which also featured a rare and wellreceived speech from his chief intellectual influence and adviser, Stephen K. Bannon.
“There is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency or a global flag,” Trump said to great applause from thousands of conservatives. “I’m not representing the globe. I’m representing your country.”
He echoed ideas he has espoused in the past — denouncing trade deals as the antithesis of “economic freedom,” warning that Paris and other great cities of Europe have been ruined by mass immigration, criticizing Democratic and Republican presidents for their interventions in the Middle East.
Although many of the words were familiar, the venue and the passion made Friday’s speech remarkable.
Trump spoke directly of his ambition to turn the GOP into “the party of the American worker.”
“I’m here today to tell you what this movement means for the future of the Republican Party and for the future of America,” Trump said. “The core conviction of our movement is that we are a nation that (must) put and will put its own citizens first.”
While Trump tried to unite conservatives, the speech made little effort to bridge the country’s larger political divide. For example, Trump dismissed people who have shown up at town halls around the country to protest reversal of Obamacare.
“They’re not you. They’re largely — many of them are the side that lost,” he said.
The visuals around the waterfront conference outside Washington were just as striking: the red “Make America Great Again” caps, the throngs of college Republicans surrounding Trump’s aides and allies, the giant Trump-decorated pickup truck at the convention center entrance.
Even those who do not agree with all of Trump’s ideas seemed pleased with the excitement in the halls of the waterfront convention center. And they believed he was winning over the conservative movement, even if Trump has historically low popularity ratings with the wider public.
Those here who disagree with Trump on trade, a border wall or other populist policies were generally pleased with his Cabinet choices and extremely happy with his nominee for the Supreme Court, federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch. “A year ago, a lot of them were for Cruz,” said Ron Fodor, the mayor of Slippery Rock, Pa., referring to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Now, Fodor said, “it’s kind of like a victory party.”
Trump is in a honeymoon phase with conservatives who once held him at arm’s length, even if he is not getting the same benefit from the public at large, said Henry Olsen, a conservative political analyst and author of a book on working-class Republicans.