GRAPEVINE, Texas — Conservatives are holding one of their largest annual rallies at a fraught political moment for President Donald Trump and with an open divide on the right over the war he is leading. Launched in Iran.
While Trump retains broad support among conservatives, the war in Iran is more than just a wrinkle for activists attracted to his “America First” campaign pledge of non-interference. In external conflicts. The debate will be tacit — and likely to erupt publicly — as thousands of activists, influencers and Republican lawmakers gather for the Conservative Political Action Conference starting Wednesday outside Dallas.
The assembly will be a contrast Festive meeting One year ago, Trump, newly returned to office, pledged to “form a new and permanent political majority,” and Elon Musk carried a chainsaw to symbolize how the administration was cutting back on the government workforce and red tape.
This year, neither Trump nor Vice President J.D. Vance’s participation in the conference has been publicly announced. But among those scheduled to speak are big names in the MAGA movement who have expressed conflicting views on the Iran war.
“This is obviously going to be a hot topic,” said John Giese, a PAC veteran and columnist for the conservative media outlet Newsmax, who suggested the possibility of greater U.S. involvement over an unspecified period of time.
Among the featured speakers scheduled for the four-day event is longtime Trump ally Steve Bannon. Bannon said during his War Room podcast this month that if war becomes “hard work,” it could cost conservative GOP voters before the midterms.
“We will bleed support,” Bannon said.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who supports the war, is also on the agenda at the Gaylord Texas Resort and Convention Center.
“I think President Trump was absolutely right to act to protect Americans,” Cruz said last week in an interview with CBS News.
Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz’s scheduled speaking slot is a reminder of the disagreement among some conservatives over the U.S. military alliance with Israel against Iran.
Gaetz, host of a show on the conservative One America News Network, said the United States has been so cozy with Israel that popular conservative figures like Tucker Carlson have challenged conservatives’ longstanding relationship with the country, drawing criticism from GOP groups, including pro-Israel Republicans, for anti-Semitism.
Others scheduled to speak include Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who is running for U.S. Senate in North Carolina.
A year after Trump chaired the group’s jubilant conference upon his return to office, he is in a much different place.
At war while concerns about jobs and family costs remain Approval is disabled. His signature domestic policy, aimed at tightening voting rules before the November midterm elections, has faltered in a Congress controlled by his party, while the Republican majority in the House of Representatives is at risk and the party’s control of the Senate is less certain than it was a year ago.
Despite the dividing lines, Trump enjoys the enduring approval of his party’s right wing. Eighty-six percent of conservatives said they approved of the president’s job performance in a February AP-NORC poll.
While Trump’s supporters remain loyal, some in more conservative circles say the division over Iran could signal trouble for Republicans in November.
Texas Rep. Steve Toth, who plans to attend the CPAC, noted that Trump’s support remains strong among conservatives, but Republican messaging on the war may be stronger.
“From MAGA people, for the most part, I don’t hear frustration with the president,” Toth said. Beat the incumbent Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw in the Texas primary on March 3. “I don’t know that we’re doing a great job of communicating the full ramifications.”
Another stark reminder of the contrast with last year is what happened in Texas Unresolved Senate primariesa particular political headache for Trump.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging four-term Republican Sen. John Cornyn, not only attended the event but served one of the event’s most important speaking roles, the Ronald Reagan dinner on Friday evening. Cornyn will not attend the Texas convention.
Trump said three weeks ago that he would soon endorse one of them after Paxton finished narrowly behind Cornyn in the March 3 primary, though neither received a majority to avoid a May 26 runoff.
Trump appealed to everyone who did not receive support to withdraw, and wrote in a post on social media that the bitter contest “cannot be allowed to continue for much longer, for the good of the party and our country itself.”
The deadline for candidates to remove their names from the May 26 runoff passed last week, with Paxton and Cornyn launching escalating attack ads targeting each other.
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Catalini reported from Mooresville, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writer Amelia Thompson Defoe in Washington contributed to this report.