GRAPEVINE (AP) \u2014 For the first time in nearly a decade, President Donald Trump did not attend one of the biggest annual meetings of conservatives. But even in his absence, the Conservative Political Action Conference revolved around him.<\/p>\n
There were disagreements over his war with Iran, pride over his immigration crackdown and lots of encouragement to avoid infighting as the Republican Party faces a difficult midterm election.<\/p>\n
It was a contrast with last year\u2019s gathering, when conservatives were riding high after Trump\u2019s return to office and Elon Musk waved a chain saw to symbolize his new role leading the Department of Government Efficiency.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a look at some of the key moments.
\n\u2018Save that for the socialists\u2019<\/p>\n
From the conference\u2019s opening moments, speaker after speaker appealed for unity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey want us divided,\u201d warned Mercedes Schlapp, a senior fellow at CPAC whose husband, Matt, chairs the organization.<\/p>\n
Evangelist Franklin Graham said the war with Iran represents a \u201ccritical time for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can discuss our differences, but do it with respect without attacking and tearing down the other person,\u201d he said. \u201cSave that for the socialists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conservative influencer Benny Johnson said he was \u201cwell aware\u201d of debates within the conservative movement but said Trump\u2019s supporters should focus on his victories, such as tighter border security.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to establish something very clearly here that your enemy is not the people that you have good-faith disagreements with inside your movement,\u201d he said. \u201cYour enemy is the Marxist, and they\u2019re going to be running against us hard in the midterms and in 2028.\u201d<\/p>\n
Warnings about war<\/p>\n
It was clear, however, that the conservative movement was not on the same page about the war with Iran. While there was little criticism of Trump, some warned against deepening the conflict.<\/p>\n
\u201cA ground invasion of Iran will make our country poorer and less safe. It will mean higher gas prices, higher food prices, and I\u2019m not sure we would end up killing more terrorists than we would create,\u201d said former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz.<\/p>\n
Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally, said that \u201cthe decision in going forward is obviously the commander in chief\u2019s,\u201d but he suggested that the American people still need to be convinced.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be convinced that this is the right thing to do, particularly now that we\u2019re on the eve of potentially the insertion of American combat troops,\u201d he said. \u201cYour sons, daughters, granddaughters, grandsons could be on Kharg Island or holding a beachhead down by the Strait of Hormuz. \u201d<\/p>\n
Recent polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that Trump risks frustrating his voters if gas prices continue rising as the country faces the kind of prolonged war in the Middle East that he promised to avoid.
\n\u2018Make Iran great again\u2019<\/p>\n
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi told the gathering he was ready to lead a new Iranian government and would call on the country\u2019s citizens to rise up when the \u201cright moment arrives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pahlavi is the son of the shah, a monarch deposed in 1979 when the Islamic theocracy came to power.<\/p>\n
He hasn\u2019t lived in Iran for five decades, but was interrupted several times by enthusiastic applause and cheers. He praised Trump for attacking Iran, and suggested that the country could one day be a U.S. ally.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you imagine Iran going from death to America to God bless America?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump is making America great again,\u201d Pahlavi said. \u201cI intend to make Iran great again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Iranian Americans attended the conference and frequently had impromptu pro-war demonstrations, chanting \u201cthank you, Trump!\u201d
\nApplause for immigration crackdown<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s handling of immigration got some of the biggest applause at the conference, and one of the special guests included recently retired Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. He had led high-profile urban crackdowns but was pushed aside after two protesters were killed by federal agents in Minneapolis.<\/p>\n
Bovino briefly came onstage during Benny Johnson\u2019s speech. The actor Dean Cain also shook Bovino\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
Tom Homan, Trump\u2019s border czar who took over for Bovino in Minnesota, was also at the conference. He drew cheers when he said Trump wouldn\u2019t walk away from his deportation campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care if people hate me,\u201d he said.
\nTrump reshaping prosecutions, media<\/p>\n
Top administration officials made clear Trump\u2019s ambitions for reshaping the country.<\/p>\n
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said more than 200 people who participated in investigations of the president were fired, retired or quit.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump, for the first time in modern history, has said, \u2018I am the president,\u2019\u201d said Blanche, who previously worked as Trump\u2019s defense attorney. \u201cAnd if you work in the executive branch, you work for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr emphasized the president\u2019s influence over the media, pointing to PBS and NPR being defunded and praising the departure of people like Stephen Colbert, whose show will end in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cPresident Trump is taking on the fake news media, and President Trump is winning,\u201d he said.
\nStraw poll results<\/p>\n
Every year, CPAC conducts a straw poll as an informal measure of conservatives\u2019 sentiments.<\/p>\n
Asked who they wanted as Republicans\u2019 presidential nominee in 2028, Vice President JD Vance finished first with 53% support. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was second with 35%. No other potential candidate surpassed 2% support. (Trump, who has mused about serving a third term despite constitutional limits, was not listed as an option.)<\/p>\n
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton got CPAC\u2019s endorsement in the U.S. Senate runoff on May 26, when he\u2019s facing incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
\nCPAC goes global<\/p>\n
As in previous years, CPAC leaned into its relationships overseas.<\/p>\n
The conference featured international speakers like Polish President Karol Nawrocki and former British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who announced the first British CPAC in July.<\/p>\n
Conservatives from Australia, Brazil Germany, Hungary and Japan also appeared on stage to say they\u2019re developing or working to put on similar conferences in their nations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GRAPEVINE (AP) \u2014 For the first time in nearly a decade, President Donald Trump did not attend one of the biggest annual meetings of conservatives. But even in his absence, the Conservative Political Action Conference revolved around him. There were disagreements over his war with Iran, pride over his immigration crackdown and lots of encouragement … Continue reading The top moments from this year\u2019s CPAC conference in Texas<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2851],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-state-news-archive"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-06 21:19:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1492228"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1492383,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492228\/revisions\/1492383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1492228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1492228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1492228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}