OXON HILL, Md.—President Donald Trump on Feb. 22 spoke at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), highlighting his actions during his first month in office.
He urged Republicans to remain united and said Democrats lost confidence after the November election.
“We took away their power. We took away their confidence,” Trump told the cheering crowd.
However, he noted that while Democrats have remained unified, some Republicans occasionally stray from unity.
“Once in a while, you have one that wants a little action or something. I don’t know what it is,” Trump said. “It’s so sad to see. I just hate to see it.”
However, he praised Sen. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) for their “fantastic job” in the past month.
“We have a lot to stick together because what we’ve done has never been done before.”
Trump delivered his speech on the final day of the CPAC summit, which ran from Feb. 19 to 22.
In a speech lasting more than an hour, Trump highlighted a long list of actions he has taken over the past month, including on strengthening border security.
He said that he has launched the “largest deportation operation in American history,” surpassing the one carried out under President Dwight Eisenhower.
The United States “will not be turned into a dumping ground,” the president said.
He then praised Elon Musk, whom he appointed to head up the Department of Government Efficiency, which is tasked with finding and reporting waste and fraud within the federal government.
“We want to make government smaller, more efficient. We want to keep the best people,” Trump said. “If they don’t report for work, we’re firing them. In other words, you have to go to the office.”
Ahead of his speech, Trump met with Polish President Andrzej Duda to discuss the Russia–Ukraine war.
Earlier in the week, Trump traded barbs with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said later that a deal with Ukraine is nearly finalized to grant the United States access to the country’s rare earth minerals in return for the U.S. aid provided thus far.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office after swearing in Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Feb. 21, Trump said, “We’re signing an agreement hopefully in the next fairly short period of time,” adding, “I think we’re pretty close.”
During his CPAC speech, Trump reiterated that he expects Ukraine to offer something in return for the financial support the United States has provided in the war.
“I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. And I’m going to try and get the war settled,” he said.
Trump is a frequent speaker at CPAC, an annual event, which describes itself as the largest and most influential gathering of conservatives in the world.
Top conservatives regularly appear at the conferences. Speakers for this year’s conference included Vice President JD Vance, Musk, Argentinian President Javier Milei, and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
As usual, CPAC held a straw poll of conservatives on the last day of the summit to determine the leading contender for the next election. JD Vance emerged as the clear favorite for the 2028 Republican nomination, securing 61 percent of the vote, with conservative activist Steve Bannon at 12 percent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 7 percent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio at 3 percent.
In this speech, Trump said Republicans will “forge a new and lasting political majority” that will shape American politics for generations.
“I think we’re going to do fantastically well in the midterms.”
