Republicans gathered in Dallas for the final day of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the annual MAGA-oriented event, where pro-Trump celebrations dominated even as the president himself was absent for the first time in a decade. Trump skipped a signature closing-style address amid a tense moment in his second term: Saturday marked one month since the U.S. began strikes on Iran, a move that has exposed fractures within his normally loyal base.
The Iran war shadowed the conference. Although national polling suggests many Americans oppose the military action, CPAC remained largely a Trump-focused event. Attendees voiced confidence in Trump’s judgment: Jeff Hadley, who drove from Raleigh, N.C., said people “feel more confident in [Trump] doing it than a lifelong politician.” Pew polling shows about eight in 10 Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of the conflict, but that backing weakens among younger Republicans and conservative-leaning independents — groups Trump expanded with in 2024.
That erosion surfaced in conversations on the floor. Thirty-year-old Army and Marine veteran Joseph Bolick of Tyler, Texas, who voted for Trump since 2016, said he now feels betrayed by a president who promised “no new wars,” and criticized the focus on foreign conflicts instead of domestic economic pain. From the stage, former congressman Matt Gaetz was among the few to publicly oppose a ground invasion, warning it would make the country poorer, raise gas and food prices, and potentially create more terrorists than it eliminates.
Midterm strategy talk took a backseat. CPAC has historically been a hub for networking and campaign stops, but this year fewer candidates used it as a campaign platform. Former RNC chair Michael Whatley, running for Senate in North Carolina, urged supporters to view the midterms as pivotal: if Democrats regain either chamber, he argued, they could stall Trump’s agenda. “We will make absolutely sure that Donald Trump is going to get a four-year term, not a two-year term,” he said.
The roster of speakers looked different, too. Several familiar Trump surrogates and MAGA media figures — including Vice President JD Vance, Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly — were absent. Organizers leaned into newer conservative figures and international allies: viral content creator Nick Shirley, who rose to prominence with allegations about Minneapolis day-care fraud, received a prime slot, while speakers included former British prime minister Liz Truss and Eduardo Bolsonaro, reflecting CPAC’s push to export MAGA conservatism.
Despite fresh faces, the program remained focused on Trump-era priorities: culture war themes and immigration dominated panels. CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp even hosted a session called “Can’t We All Just Get Along,” urging acceptance of internal differences while noting the coalition holds because many embraced Trump and Trumpism.
With 2028 looming, Trump’s conspicuous absence underscored a political reality: he remains the unifying force for broad swaths of the party. When he’s not on the stage, who can knit those factions together is far less certain.
