Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Trump: Battle to build on legacy
Promises limits on transgender athletes
OXON HILL, Md. — Former President Donald Trump cast himself Saturday as the only Republican candidate who can build on his White House legacy but shied away from directly critiquing his potential rivals, including Florida Gov. Ron Desantis.
Trump, giving the headlining address at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, told a cheering crowd that he was engaged in his “final battle” as he tries to return to the White House.
“We are going to finish what we started,” he said. “We’re going to complete the mission. We’re going to see this battle through to ultimate victory.”
While CPAC was once a must-stop for candidates mulling Republican presidential runs, Desantis and other major likely contenders skipped this year’s gathering amid scandal and as the group has increasingly become aligned with Trump.
Trump threaded his speech with grievances related to his term in office and outlined his agenda for a second, including restrictions on gender-affirming care and transgender athletes, which drew some of the strongest applause from the room and was a recurrent theme in speeches at the four-day conference.
While many top Republicans steered clear of the conference, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a potential candidate, and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, who declared her candidacy last month, both spoke Friday.
“There is no one in that field I want as my president other than Donald J. Trump,” said Waverly Woods, a Republican activist and marketer from Virginia Beach, Virginia, who said she likes Desantis but that Trump has first claim on the hearts of many at the conference.
Earlier, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro got an enthusiastic welcome and said his “mission is not over” while leaving open the possibility that his movement might continue without him.
Bolsonaro, 67, spoke Saturday after his son Eduardo, a Brazilian congressman, addressed the group and before Trump’s keynote closing address.
“In this moment, I thank God for my second life and also for the mission of being the president of Brazil for one term,” Bolsonaro said through an interpreter in a 23-minute speech. “But I feel deep inside that this mission is not over.”