Trump’s Triumphant CPAC Comeback

THE NEWS

President Trump delivered a high-energy, rally-style speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on February 22, 2025, marking his return to the gathering as President and thanking supporters for their role in his political revival​.

He celebrated what he called an unprecedented first month back in office, touting deep cuts to federal bureaucracy and other early “wins” as evidence that his administration is “dominating” Washington and sending entrenched officials “packing”​.

The CPAC crowd responded with enthusiasm and adulation throughout the address, underscored by a straw poll that showed Trump with a 99% approval rating among attendees at the conference​.

TIMELINE

Triumphant Entrance

• Trump took the stage in National Harbor, Maryland to roaring applause, noting it was exactly one month since his inauguration and declaring that “nobody has ever seen anything” like his new administration’s effort to shrink the size of government​.

• He opened by thanking the conservative base for returning him to the White House and immediately set an upbeat tone about his early accomplishments​.

Touting First-Month Wins

• The President bragged about “dominating” the capital and systematically cutting federal bureaucracy in his first weeks, saying career officials were being shown the door as part of his drive to overhaul Washington​.

• Trump vowed to “forge a new and lasting political majority” and argued that voters gave him a clear mandate in the 2024 election to dramatically reshape the government, crack down on the U.S.-Mexico border, and extend the tax cuts that defined his first term​.

Defying Political Gravity

• Adopting a campaign-like cadence, Trump predicted that Republicans would continue to win and “drive American politics for generations to come,” expressing confidence that his party would defy historical midterm trends that typically hurt a president’s party​.

• He quipped that “nobody’s ever seen four weeks like we had,” likening his fast start in office to opening a round of golf with four great holes – a streak he said gave him confidence heading into the “fifth” hole and beyond​.

Empowering Musk to Cut Government

• Trump highlighted his partnership with tech billionaire Elon Musk in a bid to slash government waste. He praised Musk’s new role leading the White House’s cost-cutting initiative, even asking the crowd, “We love Elon, don’t we?.”​

• In a dramatic moment emblematic of this effort, Musk took the CPAC stage earlier brandishing a buzzing chainsaw – which he dubbed “the chainsaw for bureaucracy” – as attendees cheered the symbolic crusade against government red tape​.

Bureaucrats on Notice

• The President announced aggressive steps to rein in federal agencies, revealing that “all federal employees will shortly receive an email” demanding they explain what they accomplished in the last week or be deemed to have resigned​.

• This edict, communicated by Musk on social media during the conference, underscored the administration’s hard line on rooting out what Trump called “unnecessary, incompetent and corrupt bureaucrats” from the workforce​.

Hardline Immigration Moves

• Shifting to immigration, Trump fired up the CPAC crowd with promises to carry out the tough border policies he campaigned on​.

• He announced that one downsized agency, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), had its Washington office literally taken over by Customs and Border Protection – even removing USAID’s name from the building – as a sign of his administration’s focus on border security over overseas aid​.

• He touted a surge in deportations, claiming his team was “liberating communities” across the country from “illegal alien criminals” and would not allow America to be turned into a “dumping ground.”​

Fort Knox Surprise

• In one of the speech’s more eyebrow-raising moments, Trump said he and Elon Musk would travel to Fort Knox in Kentucky to inspect the nation’s gold reserves​.

• Joking with the audience, he asked, “Would anybody like to join us? … We want to see if the gold is still there,” drawing enthusiastic cheers and laughter​.

• Trump mused about the possibility of finding an empty vault—“wouldn’t that be terrible if we opened it up and there was no gold?”—before assuring the crowd they would be “very happy” if all the bullion is accounted for​.

Reliving 2024 and Mocking Opponents

• The President devoted a significant portion of his address to revisiting last year’s election campaign and his defeat of the Democratic ticket. He gleefully jeered at former President Biden – at one point saying he hadn’t “said that name [Biden] in a while” – and even mispronounced Vice President Kamala Harris’s first name for effect​.

• Trump cast his 2024 victory over Harris (who ran in Biden’s place) as “the great liberation of America,” claiming his win had saved the nation from the “tyranny” of a far-left government​.

• The crowd responded warmly as Trump painted the election as “too big to rig” and celebrated what he described as the country’s deliverance from Democratic rule​.

Blistering Attack on Biden

• Returning to the theme of Biden’s legacy, Trump unleashed some of his harshest words for his predecessor’s tenure. “Every single thing he touched turned to s**t, okay? Everything. It’s true,” Trump exclaimed, prompting a standing ovation from the CPAC audience​.

• He argued that Biden was “the worst” and suggested even former President Jimmy Carter died a happy man knowing that “Joe” had surpassed him at the bottom, as Trump cast himself as the cleanup crew for the problems left behind​.

• At one point, Trump even had to mock-chide himself – “Donald, don’t get angry” – as he recounted how upset he was watching Biden’s border policies, drawing laughs from the hall​.

Shout-outs to Populist Allies

• Throughout the speech, Trump weaved in praise for right-wing leaders at home and abroad. He recognized several international guests in attendance, giving a salute to Poland’s President Andrzej Duda – whom he called “a fantastic man and a great friend of mine” – and he warmly acknowledged Argentina’s President Javier Milei, noting that Milei is “a MAGA guy, too – Make Argentina Great Again.”​

• Trump joked to Duda, “you must be doing something right, hanging out with Trump,” and touted his camaraderie with foreign allies who share his nationalist, anti-establishment outlook​.

Talking Tough on Ukraine

• Turning to foreign policy, Trump struck a controversial note regarding the ongoing war in Ukraine. He told the crowd he has been directly engaging with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, and asserted that the conflict “affects Europe. It doesn’t really affect us.”​

• Trump claimed the United States is “close to a deal” to end the fighting, and insisted his administration was working urgently on an agreement​. (In fact, earlier that day the White House press office announced that National Security Adviser Mike Waltz was working “around the clock” to broker a peace deal​.)

• Trump also mentioned an initiative to have Ukraine share revenue from its mineral resources with the U.S. as part of negotiations, signaling a transactional approach to resolving the war​.

Closing on Confidence

• After speaking for well over an hour, Trump wrapped up his CPAC comeback speech on a confident and triumphant note. He thanked the energized crowd for their unwavering support and reiterated that the “America First” movement was just getting started. The President beamed that he “[has] the power now” and urged conservatives to carry the momentum forward every single day​.

• As Lee Greenwood’s patriotic anthem “God Bless the USA” blared through the speakers, Trump exited the stage basking in chants of “USA” – a triumphant finale to an event where he had firmly re-established himself as the GOP’s star attraction​.

Watch Trump's full speech.

REACTIONS

House Speaker Mike Johnson praised Trump’s address and particularly lauded Elon Musk’s efforts, saying Musk is “right over the target right now” in rooting out government waste, which is “why Democrats are so nervous.”​

Senator Jim Banks, speaking at CPAC, embraced Trump’s combative posture and declared that the old establishment GOP is gone: “That Republican Party is dead. We have no time for wimpy Republicans.”​

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries blasted Trump’s agenda as an extremist shift that harms working people, warning that Americans are “under assault by an extreme MAGA Republican agenda” trying to benefit billionaires at everyone else’s expense, and vowing, “We are going to fight it legislatively… in the courts… in the streets.”​

Conservative outlets and Trump’s base celebrated the speech as a resounding success, while liberal commentators and Democrats condemned what they saw as dangerous rhetoric and misinformation.

WHAT'S NEXT

Trump and his Republican allies are now moving to translate the CPAC energy into concrete action, aiming to capitalize on his first-month momentum with further executive orders and by pressing Congress to enact his agenda into law​.

His administration is also prioritizing foreign policy breakthroughs – officials say they are working “around the clock” toward a potential deal to end the war in Ukraine​, and Trump is scheduled to meet with key European leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Britain’s Keir Starmer, in the coming days to discuss security and trade issues​.

Domestically, all eyes will turn toward the 2026 midterm elections, which will test Trump’s influence and the durability of the GOP’s “new majority.”

Notably, CPAC’s straw poll highlighted Vice President J.D. Vance as a rising favorite, with a majority of attendees naming him as their preferred Republican nominee in 2028​.