President Donald Trump Addresses Audience At 2025 CPAC Conference

President Donald Trump wrapped up the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) by giving a speech at the Gaylord National Resort and Conference Center Feb. 22.  

Matt and Mercedes Schlapp welcomed Trump to the podium with “God Bless the USA” playing in the background after singer Mary Millben performed “America the Beautiful.”  Trump took a moment to thank his supporters and remark on the growth of CPAC. 

“Today I want to say ‘thank you’ to all the incredible patriots of CPAC and all of the incredible patriots in our country,” Trump said. 

 He also spoke regarding his career-high ratings, noting that he has had higher poll numbers this term than during his previous presidency, such as his 54% approval rating according to InsiderAdvantage.  

Trump continued on, recalling his history with CPAC, and noted how his first time speaking at the conference 14 years ago led to him winning CPAC’s straw poll for that year.  Then, Trump showed his support for the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, who has headed many efforts to mitigate inflation in his country.  

Trump also thanked the Schlapps for their work with the American Conservative Union and commended their organization of CPAC. Subsequently, he recognized many of the speakers at the conference including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. 

“With the help of so many incredible supporters here today we’re going to forge a new and lasting political majority that will drive American politics for generations to come,” Trump said. 

The president then discussed how he is confident that the Republican Party will do well in the midterm elections as he finds them “bigger, better (and) stronger” than ever.  

“… the people have given us a resounding mandate for dramatic change in Washington and we are going to deliver it,” Trump said. “We’re going to use it and we’re going to make America great again by using it.” 

Trump explained that he viewed the conservative movement as the “party of common sense,” comprised of hardworking citizens from “every race, religion, color and creed.” He also announced that he decided to create a collaboration between the Department of Interior and Department of Energy to fulfill his campaign pitch, “drill, baby, drill,” that alludes to the president’s desire to revamp the United States’ oil industry. 

Trump continued his address by mentioning some of the recent confirmations for cabinet appointments including Pete Hegseth for secretary of defense and Kash Patel as the new director of the FBI. This was followed with updates concerning some of his most recent progress, such as declaring a state of emergency at the southern border, ending protected status for Haitian migrants and halting birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.  

Trump said birthright citizenship was originally intended for children of slaves during a difficult time in America’s history, and as the situation is no longer the same, change is needed.  

Trump also commended first responders and border control agents before detailing why he chose Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the U.S. Department of Labor. He’d noticed that she was backed by several unions, and despite her not being a “hard-right” politician, he trusts her to do the right thing. 

“(The unions) all voted for us,” Trump said. “They didn’t vote for me; they voted for us. … We had tremendous support, so I think it’s nice to give them a person in the center.” 

Trump then reflected on his team’s efforts, involving what he called the “largest deportation operation in American history.”  

He said he couldn’t stand seeing illegal immigrants from jails and mental institutions being brought into America, especially as a notable percentage of the immigrants possess criminal records. Trump asserted that this security issue prompted him to run for re-election.  

“We don’t have that problem anymore,” Trump said. “We now have the best border we’ve ever had.” 

He said these new efforts are liberating communities that were taken over by illegal immigrant criminals, rescuing stolen jobs and preventing America from becoming a “dumping ground.”  

The president also said he looks forward to the income America will receive from tariffs.  

Continuing in the same vein, Trump said he respects the people and president of China but believes China and several other countries have taken advantage of America; he claimed that in the last year, over a trillion American dollars were lost to China.  

Trump briefly transitioned back to speaking on deportation and said he worked to convince other governments to accept illegal immigrants back into their home countries, before opting to discuss his take on cartels and gangs. 

“ … just this week I officially designated bloodthirsty cartels and murderous gangs as foreign terrorist organizations,” Trump said. “The full might and power of the federal government will now be dedicated to eradicating MS-13 (and) Tren de Aragua … their members and their leaders in the United States will be hunted down.” 

He said that tens of thousands of MS-13 and Tren de Aragua were removed already, and that he’s issued an executive order for the entirety of the U.S. prison system to be used to its upmost capacity, including Guantánamo Bay.  

Next, Trump listed some of the deals and organizations he’s removed America from, including the Paris Climate Accord, the Green News “scam” and the electric vehicle mandate. This list also continued to discuss some of the freezes he’s enacted since taking office, such as those regarding federal hiring, federal regulation and foreign aid. Trump took the moment to shed light on Elon Musk’s and the team of DOGE’s work to end government “fraud, waste and abuse.”  

Trump went into great depth to explain some of the fraud and abuse DOGE has recently claimed to find, including millions of dollars provided to Guatemala for sex changes and over 20 million individuals between the ages of 100 and 360 who were supposedly receiving payments from the Department of Social Security.  

“Under our administration there will be no tolerance for social security fraud,” Trump said. “We will not allow anyone to cheat our seniors and those who will do that will be prosecuted by Pam Bondi and others.” 

Trump announced his plan to travel alongside Musk to determine the state of Fort Knox and also referenced his plans to make the government smaller and more efficient.  

Trump said 75,000 government employees have chosen to surrender their jobs through his buyout program while he continuously looks to keep the best workers and fire those who refuse to report back to their physical offices. Some employees, Trump explained, have second jobs that they do while getting paid by the government. 

“ … One of the reasons they’re leaving is because they don’t want to have to show that and we’re demanding to see that information,” Trump said. “How many jobs have you had, who paid you while you were working for the government and we are demanding that people, if they work for the government, they have to show up and sit in an office and do their job.” 

Trump continued his discussion of organizations that he withdrew America from, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Human Rights Counsel (UNHRC) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). He explained that he found WHO to be corrupt, UNHRC to be antisemitic and UNRSA to be supporting terrorists.  

Trump also said he is working to end the Russia-Ukraine war, along with his plans to receive reimbursement for the financial support America gave previously to Ukraine. He mentioned oil and rare minerals as possible repayment methods. 

“I think we’re pretty close to a deal and we better be close to a deal because that has been a horrible situation,” Trump said. 

The U.S. president said he wants to put an end to the Israel-Hamas warfare, although he explained that he wasn’t open to speaking extensively on the matter while they were in the middle of negotiations. Trump expressed his sadness over the death and destruction both wars have caused and how a family came to him expressing their desire to get their son back, even though he’d already died.  

“It’s important — just as important as if the son were alive — to get the body back,” Trump said. 

This isn’t the only case, Trump noted, as some families aren’t sure if their family member is alive or dead — but they hold on to what little hope they have. He said that the families should be allowed to keep that hope, but it’s important to retrieve the family member regardless of the state they’re in.  

“As I said in my inaugural address, it’s my hope that my greatest legacy will be as a peacemaker, not a conqueror,” Trump said.  

McKinnon is the off-campus news editor for the Liberty Champion.