‘The Conservative Movement Is Donald Trump’ – POLITICO Magazine
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. They should have known better. The college kids, crammed into the back-right corner of an overflow ballroom here at the Gaylord National Resort, should have recognized that the props being distributed to them were, in fact, miniature Russian flags. But as the president of the United States strode onto the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference, theyand scores of other attendees nearbywhipped them proudly overhead. And why wouldnt they? After all, the flags carried the ultimate seal of approval, with regal golden letters scrawled across their middle: TRUMP.
It was a pranka wildly successful oneperpetrated by liberal troublemakers attempting to draw attention to Russias odd relationship with President Donald Trump and members of his campaign. Within moments, CPAC officials spotted the flags and deployed staff members to confiscate them from the confused youngsters. It said Trump on it, and it was red, white and blue, Zachary Jenkins, a member of the College Republicans at Marshall University in West Virginia, told me afterward, a sheepish look on his face. So I just assumed it was OK.
Story Continued Below
It amounted to little more than an embarrassing bit of publicity. And yet the incident highlighted, somewhat hilariously, conservatisms blind spot in the age of Trump. Jenkins and his friends likely would have realized the flags were foreign, and wouldnt have waved them, had they not been branded with his name; likewise, conservatives would ordinarily oppose protectionist, cronyist, big-spending, debt-accumulating policiesif they werent signature stances of the new Republican president.
To spend three days at this years CPAC, the annual right-wing carnival of politics and culture, was to witness an ideology conforming to an individual rather than the other way around. The presidents counselor, Kellyanne Conway, set the tone Thursday morning when asked to assess Trumps impact on the conservative movement. Well, I think by tomorrow this will be TPAC, she said. The moderator laughed and so did the audience members, but it wasnt a joke: Anyone searching for a brand of conservatism independent of the new president would have walked away sorely disappointed.
After a three-day celebration of Trumpism, the announcement of the straw poll results on Saturday afternoon told the whole story. A full 86 percent of attendees approved of Trumps job performance so far, compared with just 12 percent who disapproved. More consequentially, on the question of whether Trump is realigning the conservative movement, 80 percent agreed and only 15 percent disagreed. Both statistics were met with cheers inside the main ballroom.
In many ways, Donald Trump is the conservative movement right now, Jim McLaughlin, the Republican pollster who conducted the survey, told CPAC attendees. And the conservative movement is Donald Trump.
To some extent, everyone expected to see Trump remake the Republican Party in his image; he became its leader upon clinching the presidential nomination last July and solidified that status for at least four years on November 8. But Trump was not supposed to bend conservatism to his willat least, not this quickly. Certainly, he has thrilled the GOP grassroots with certain decisions, such as signing executive orders aimed at deregulation, beginning a crackdown on illegal immigration and nominating an originalist in Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. But he has also done other thingsfacilitating a deal with Carrier in Indiana that smacked of crony capitalism; bullying private corporations and individual citizens; declaring reporters the enemy of the American public; asserting a moral equivalence between the U.S. government and Vladimir Putins that would typically put any politician in the crosshairs of the right.
Trump, however, has encountered scant dissent from his partys ideological base. So he came to CPAC not to pay homage to the traditions of conservatism, but to bask in the supremacy of his own movement, one that he and his allies believe will supplant the outdated orthodoxies peddled for decades by the very people who greeted him like a conquering hero on Friday morning.
In his meandering 48-minute speech, Trump did not once use the words liberty or constitution. He did not invoke the name of Ronald Reagan, the last Republican president to address CPAC during his first year in office, and to whom he was incessantly compared throughout the week. He made no reference to government, in terms of keeping it small, limited or otherwise. And the only time he uttered the word conservative was in reference to his triumph at the ballot box. Our victory was a victory ... for conservative values, Trump declared.
Then, in a stroke of strategic and rhetorical genius, the president conflated those conservative values with his own. The core conviction of our movement, Trump told his standing-room-only audience, is that we are a nation that will put its own citizens first. The crowd ate it up.
To Trumpand to his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, who appeared on a Thursday panel alongside chief of staff Reince Priebusthis means pursuing an agenda of economic nationalism that, among other things, restricts trade, subsidizes certain domestic businesses and borrows and spends large sums of money to spur job growth and wealth creation. None of this is remotely compatible with the modern conservative movement, which has been defined to a large extent by its adherence to the principles of free trade, free markets and fiscal restraint.
It wasnt just the ubiquitous deification of Trump that was so jarring. It was the degree to which his worldview was accepted, championed and cheered by conservative speakers and attendees with no obvious connection to the new president. Consistently, anti-trade rhetoric drew the loudest ovations, especially when packaged as part of a broader assault on globalism, a particular hobbyhorse of Bannon and the Breitbart crew.
Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, CPACs governing body, swore he wasnt worried about the appearance of Trumpism subjugating the traditional right. Trump voices that are added to CPAC are wonderful because it will help us win, he told me. We have to have more people. We can be a very pristine conservative movementand be very small and make no difference.
The push for intellectual and ideological diversity is commendable, save for the inconvenient reality that it was nowhere to be found. Over three days of speeches and panels and seminars, nary a negative word was directed at the president or his policies. And with the exception of a few collegiates handing out free market buttons, there was no pushback on a nationalist platform that not long ago wouldnt have been welcome at this very gathering.
Only a year ago, CPAC attendeesthe majority of whom supported either Ted Cruz or Marco Rubiothreatened a mass boycott of Trumps scheduled speech. He ultimately cancelled his appearance, and conservatives in attendance roared with approval whenever one of the speakers lambasted the man who, to their great dismay, had emerged as the Republican presidential front-runner.
Miniature Russian flags with Trump's name on the flag were passed out at CPAC. | Tim Alberta/POLITICO
Last year we were talking about a walkout if Trump showed up, and this year its all Trump all the time. It has completely changed, said Dominic Moore, a University of North Carolina student who attended CPAC for the first time in 2016 and backed Rubio in the GOP primary. Last year the Make America Great Again hats were few and far between. Now theyre everywhere. Last year the speakers were attacking him and now everyones done a full 180. Theyre all on the bandwagon. Everything has changed.
Few seem to think thats a bad thing. In conversations with dozens of attendees, only a handful expressed qualms at Trumps takeover of CPACand most of those were conservative political consultants who asked not to be quoted for fear of reprisals from Republicans they do business with. I met several first-time attendees, such as Ohio University student Johnny Paszke, who came explicitly to show their support for Trumpand dismissed questions about the presidents ideological mooring. I think he is a fairly liberal conservative, Paszke told me with a shrug. Thats OK. (When I asked Paszke what it means to be a fairly liberal conservative, he said Trump will never be as far-right as Cruz, who appeared at the conference Thursday.)
And then there was Margaret Howell. When Trump took the stage Friday morning, I glanced over and noticed her, standing several feet away inside the media pen, with tears of joy running down her cheek. It was overwhelming, she told me afterward. He really inspires people. It turns out Howell works for Right Side Broadcasting, the pro-Trump livestreaming network, and was formerly a reporter for InfoWars and the Kremlin-backed RT television network. She, too, was a first-time attendee. I was never inspired to come to CPAC prior to Donald Trump, she confessed. Why would I be?
Its a fair question. For most of its history, CPAC, which debuted in 1973, promoted an intellectually exclusive and ideologically insular worldview known as movement conservatism. Even as it gradually expanded its philosophical tentallowing pro-LGBT groups; inviting an atheist speaker; absorbing the young, libertarian supporters of Ron and Rand Paulthe gathering still reflected a set of political sensibilities that were broadly within the Republican mainstream. CPAC organizers kept their distance from the likes of Bannon and his Breitbart.com, which attacked Republicans on the center-right and preached a provocative populism that many in the movement considered a threat.
That seemed a distant memory this week. Even before the conference convened, Schlapp was under fire for inviting Milo Yiannopoulos, the alt-right cage-rattler with no serious claim to conservatism. He was ultimately disinvited after video surfaced of him making approving remarks about pedophilia, but the conference nonetheless had a decidedly unfamiliar feel. Bannonwho made a point of caustically thanking Schlapp for finally inviting him to CPACwas prominently featured and made headlines by promoting his vision for economic nationalism and the deconstruction of the administrative state. Breitbart was a sponsor, its logo slapped conspicuously across the main stage. And the upstart news outlets brand of conservatism drove the proceedings in dominant fashion, dictating everything from the panel topics to the headline speakers. (Notably, while Trump and his administration allies were given plum slots, there were no speeches from longtime CPAC favorites such as Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio and Rand Paul.)
It all contributed to the distinct and growing impression that conservatism, rather than expanding to make room for Trumpism, is being swallowed up by it altogether.
Politics is an evolving process. You cannot simply say, Im a Reagan Republican and I will never move from my positions, Luis Fortuno, the former Puerto Rico governor and an ACU board member, said when I asked about Trumps influence on conservatism. Conditions are different today than they were 25 years ago. And we must evolve.
Its one thing for a movement to organically evolve toward smarter, more advantageous policy positions; its quite another to surrender its ideological foundations in the face of political headwinds. This distinction is at the heart of Trumps relationship with the right, as conservatives navigate the fine line between cooperation and capitulation.
Overall, Im keeping an optimistic outlook, said Matt Batzel, executive director of American Majority, a grassroots group that ran activist training sessions at CPAC. But we have to be vigilant. Everyone whos part of the conservative movement has an obligation to speak out so that one person doesnt fundamentally transform conservatism.
This idea of keeping conservatism sovereign from Republicanism, to check its excesses from a place of principle, was of paramount importance to CPAC devotees in the aftermath of George W. Bushs presidency. Schlapp, who served as White House political directorand who saw relatively little resistance on the right as Bush doubled the national debt and dramatically grew the federal governmentknows better than anyone the danger of the conservative movement deferring to a Republican president.
My guess is there will be some rocky moments, he said of Trumps alliance with the right. My job as the head of a conservative organization is not to be his cheerleader. My job as the head of a conservative organization is to stand for our values.
After CPAC 2017, however, its unclear whose values hes referring to.
When I asked Jenkins, the flag-waving Marshall University student, whether he thought Trump is a conservative, he grinned. I think Trump is redefining what it means to be a conservative.
Tim Alberta is national political reporter at Politico Magazine.
See the original post:
'The Conservative Movement Is Donald Trump' - POLITICO Magazine
- Does Donald Trump deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? We asked 5 experts - The Conversation - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Mary Trump Issues Warning on Long-Term Impact of Donald Trump Move - Newsweek - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Donald Trump threatens to impose 50% tariff on Brazil - Financial Times - July 10th, 2025 [July 10th, 2025]
- Is the Hispanic Red Wave for Donald Trump Starting to Crash? - The New Yorker - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- President Donald Trump's approval rating by state as of July 2025 - Yahoo - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Sending More Weapons to Ukraine: What We Know - Newsweek - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- It Appears Elon Musk REALLY Pissed Off Donald Trump This Time, And I'm Convinced They're DUNZO - Yahoo - July 8th, 2025 [July 8th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Wants to Add His Face to Mount Rushmore. Here's What Its Former Keeper Says About 'the Reality of the Rock' - Yahoo News - July 6th, 2025 [July 6th, 2025]
- Map Shows Donald Trump's Approval Rating in Every State on 4th of July - Newsweek - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Keir Starmer says good relationship with Donald Trump based on shared family values - The Guardian - July 4th, 2025 [July 4th, 2025]
- Donald Trump's 'Big, Beautiful Bill' Heads Back to the House: What's Next? - Newsweek - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- The play-by-play of the 24-hour war of words between Elon Musk and Donald Trump - Business Insider - July 2nd, 2025 [July 2nd, 2025]
- Donald Trump Says Hes Found a Group of Very Wealthy People to Buy TikTok and Keep App in U.S. - Variety - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Says Group Of "Very Wealthy People" Looking To Acquire TikTok - Deadline - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Confirmed to Return with Speaking Part in Disney World's Hall of Presidents - WDWMagic - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Warns NY Mayor Candidate Zohran Mamdani: 'Do the Right Thing' - Newsweek - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Donald Trump says 'very wealthy group' has agreed to buy TikTok in the US - Sky News - June 29th, 2025 [June 29th, 2025]
- Orchestrated grovel: critics react to Europes attempts to tame Donald Trump - The Guardian - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Is About to Confront the Real Reason the US Keeps Starting Wars - Politico - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Cuts Off Trade Talks With Canada, 'Effective Immediately' - Newsweek - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Jen's Version: Are we really going to pretend Donald Trump is concerned about classified material? - MSNBC News - June 28th, 2025 [June 28th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Makes Major Change to Mortgages: What to Know - Newsweek - June 26th, 2025 [June 26th, 2025]
- 'It's possible' Putin will invade more than Ukraine, says Donald Trump - Euronews.com - June 26th, 2025 [June 26th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Nobel Peace Prize Nomination Withdrawn - Newsweek - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Dear heads of state: Donald Trump wont love you back. He may be the worst boyfriend the world has ever seen - The Guardian - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- Marjorie Taylor Greene Flips Out Over 'Dirty Rumors' About Her And Donald Trump - Yahoo - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- 'How angry Donald Trump is': Social media reacts to Trump dropping F-bomb live on TV - Times of India - June 24th, 2025 [June 24th, 2025]
- President Donald Trump: The strikes were a spectacular military success - Fox News - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Donald Trump Bombs Iran, and America Waits - The New Yorker - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Bombing Iran, Donald Trump is triggering a tragedy that Thucydides foretold long ago - The Forward - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Is Donald Trump an Antagonist or Champion of the Gay Community? - The New York Times - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Donald Trump to Address Nation After Attacking Iran Nuclear Sites - Newsweek - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Donald Trump says US has attacked three Iranian nuclear sites and totally obliterated them - The Guardian - June 22nd, 2025 [June 22nd, 2025]
- Juventus meet Donald Trump at the White House as he discusses Iran conflict and transgender women in sport - The New York Times - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Trump denies approving Iran attack plan but will make decision within two weeks | Donald Trump - The Guardian - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Donald Trump's National Park Tip Line Flooded With Angry Messages - Newsweek - June 20th, 2025 [June 20th, 2025]
- Opinion | What the Godfather of American Conservatism Would Think About Donald Trump - Politico - June 16th, 2025 [June 16th, 2025]
- The quiet truce between Gavin Newsom and Donald Trump is over - CalMatters - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Gavin Newsom Dares Donald Trump to Arrest Him: 'Get It Over With' - Newsweek - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Accused Of Inciting Violence With Chilling New Rhyme - Yahoo News - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- Opinion | Donald Trump vs. California (and everywhere else) - The Washington Post - June 10th, 2025 [June 10th, 2025]
- 'So much for being nice guy': Donald Trump reignites trade tensions, warns China it has violated tariff d - Times of India - May 30th, 2025 [May 30th, 2025]
- Mike Pence Accuses Donald Trump of Ignoring Constitution - Newsweek - May 30th, 2025 [May 30th, 2025]
- We demanded justice after George Floyds death. Donald Trump made things worse, but we fight on | Al Sharpton - The Guardian - May 26th, 2025 [May 26th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Posts All-Caps Memorial Day Message Attacking USA Hating Judges And Scum Who Are Trying To Destroy Our Country - Deadline - May 26th, 2025 [May 26th, 2025]
- CNN abruptly stopped for breaking news as Donald Trump explodes at reporter over Ukraine question - The Mirror US - May 26th, 2025 [May 26th, 2025]
- Donald Trump is throttling Americas oil industry - The Economist - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Donald Trump prizes more Gulf investment in the US - BBC - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Vows to Reduce Prescription Drug Costs by Up to 80 Percent - Newsweek - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- What is habeas corpus and why might Donald Trump want to suspend it? - BBC - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Donald Trump calls for 20,000 new officers to aid with deportations - BBC - May 11th, 2025 [May 11th, 2025]
- Donald Trump is a bigger threat to UK than terrorists, poll says - politico.eu - May 8th, 2025 [May 8th, 2025]
- Donald Trump to announce 'major trade deal' with a big and highly respected nation - Times of India - May 8th, 2025 [May 8th, 2025]
- Donald Trump picks the wrong trade fight with China - The Economist - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Donald Trump says he will be talking to Australias prime minister about tariffs - The Guardian - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Names His Dream Successor for Pope Francis Ahead of the Papal Conclave - People.com - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Giants say they had no conversations with Donald Trump about Saquon Barkley - NBC Sports - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Donald Trump is proving disastrous for big tech - The Economist - April 30th, 2025 [April 30th, 2025]
- Opinion | Donald Trump Is Selling the White House to the Highest Bidder - The New York Times - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- 'Kicking butt' or 'going too fast'? Donald Trump voters reflect on 100 days - BBC - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Donald Trump's approval rating takes a hit as he reaches 100 days: New polls - USA Today - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Experts On Russia Say Donald Trump Is Wrong About The War In Ukraine - Forbes - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Donald Trump went after one of America's top law firms. Its decision to fight back took just two hours. - Business Insider - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Sweeping change. Donald Trump voters reflect on controversial first 100 days of second term. - Chicago Tribune - April 27th, 2025 [April 27th, 2025]
- Donald Trump wants celebrities to kiss the ring. Bill Maher did: wholl be next? | Emma Brockes - The Guardian - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Donald Trump's trip to Pope Francis' funeral puts a sharper focus on their clashes over the years - AP News - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Donald Trump Is Tanking One of Americas Greatest Exports in the Middle of a Trade War - Slate - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- 'Reality bites Donald Trump in the you know where': China contradicts the White House over tariffs - MSNBC News - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- Donald Trump's "Objectively Embarrassing And Hilarious" Message To Vladimir Putin Is Now A Meme - Yahoo - April 25th, 2025 [April 25th, 2025]
- The Nobel is just the start: 16 imagined victories for Donald Trump | Ariel Dorfman - The Guardian - April 21st, 2025 [April 21st, 2025]
- Is Donald Trump Breaking the Law? Seven Experts Weigh In. - The Free Press - April 21st, 2025 [April 21st, 2025]
- JD Vance: Donald Trump's Global 'Bad Cop' In His First 100 Days In Office - NDTV - April 21st, 2025 [April 21st, 2025]
- What is the Insurrection Act? What To Know as Donald Trump Deadline Hits - Newsweek - April 21st, 2025 [April 21st, 2025]
- Vince Vaughn Visits Donald Trump and The White House Shares Wedding Crashers Parody Poster - Variety - April 21st, 2025 [April 21st, 2025]
- President Donald Trump Is Saving Social Security Hundreds of Millions of Dollars per Year. But Is It Enough to Prevent Benefit Cuts? - Yahoo Finance - April 21st, 2025 [April 21st, 2025]
- We knew Donald Trump is bad at business. Now the world does, too. | Sheneman cartoon - NJ.com - April 14th, 2025 [April 14th, 2025]
- Donald Trump is now badly wounded. Europe and the UK can seize an advantage - The Guardian - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Bill Maher Says Donald Trump Was Gracious and Willing to Listen During White House Visit - hollywoodreporter.com - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Bill Maher Recounts Surprising Meeting With Gracious and Measured Donald Trump - TV Insider - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]
- Bill Maher's full monologue on his Donald Trump meeting: Read the transcript - USA Today - April 12th, 2025 [April 12th, 2025]