Trump tells CPAC it ‘finally’ has a leader
Speaks at conference for first time as president
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — A year ago, Donald Trump skipped the nation’s pre-eminent conference of conservatives, underscoring the friction between the celebrity businessman 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, antiglobalist rhetoric like a flag.
“Now you finally have a president, finally,” Trump said, later promising that “the forgotten men and women of America will be forgotten no more.”
With his appearance at CPAC, Trump became the first sitting president since Ronald Reagan to address the group during his first year in office. After taking the stage to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.,” Trump pledged to return.
His wide-ranging speech amounted to a victory lap for Trump and a chance to recount his campaign promises as well as thank a wing of the party with which he has not always been in sync.
Trump, who campaigned as more of a populist than a conservative, told his audience that his presidential victory represented a “movement the likes of which the world has never seen before.”
“The core conviction of our movement is that we are a na-
tion that put, and will put, its own citizens first,” Trump said, prompting the crowd to chant: “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”
His speech marked his takeover of the conservative movement, one of several signs of his dominance throughout the conference, which also featured a rare public speech from his chief adviser, Steve 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; and denouncing Democratic and Republican presidents for their interventions in the Middle East.
But while many of the words were familiar, the venue and the passion made Friday’s speech remarkable.
Trump spoke 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,” he said. “The core conviction of our movement is that we are a nation that (must) put and will put its own citizens first.”
During his remarks, Trump said that in a matter of days, he would have a “brand new action” to keep the country safe — a reference to a second attempt at an executive order to restrict travel into the United States from several majority-Muslim nations.
Trump cited a series of terrorist attacks overseas and said: “We have to be smart, folks. We can’t let it happen to us. … We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country.”
Trump sought to portray his fledgling administration as one of action, ticking off multiple fronts on which he’s moved: pulling out of a major trade deal, reducing regulations, cracking down on immigrants in the country illegally and clearing the way for the construction of some major oil pipelines.
Trump also touted his efforts to “massively lower taxes” and replace the Affordable Care Act.
He called it “the disaster known as Obamacare,” to great applause.
While Trump tried to unite conservatives, he made little effort to bridge the country’s larger political divide.
For example, he dismissed people who have shown up at town halls nationwide to protest a planned repeal of Obamacare.
“They’re not you. They’re largely — many of them are the side that lost,” he said.
And, as he has repeatedly in the last few weeks, Trump attacked the media for what he sees as unfair coverage.