OXON HILL, Md. − It was MAGA ecstasy.
Elon Musk waved a chainsaw on stage. A Jan. 6 defendant flashed his pardon. Donald Trump predicted “generations” of political dominance. One supporter wore a hat declaring him “MAGA king.”
MAGA was in the mood to celebrate, bolder and more confident than ever before at the raucous Conservative Political Action Conference last weekend. The GOP’s biggest stars – including Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Musk – whipped the crowd into a frenzy at a sprawling Maryland resort as they bragged of recent conservative victories and pledged more to come.
If Trump supporters had caught lightning in a bottle, across the Potomac traditional Republicans had all the brilliance of autumn fireflies trapped in a jar.
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U.S. President Donald Trump dances onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
The muted, business-like atmosphere at the Principles First Summit − a gathering of anti-Trump Republicans, right-leaning independents and disgruntled Democrats – in downtown Washington D.C. matched the lack of political fire power. A cast of disempowered GOP leaders tried to reassure the crowd – and themselves – that maybe, just maybe, Trumpism wasn’t here to stay.
Failed Trump opponents such as former Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas said there still is an opportunity to put the GOP on a different course but also acknowledged they were swimming against a powerful tide.
Set against the aggressive, destabilizing opening month of Trump’s second turn at the presidency, the two conferences offered dramatically different visions: Radical change and a demolition of the existing order versus classic small “c” conservatism.
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No one doubts who’s winning.
“We’re going to forge a new and lasting political majority,” Trump told a jubilant CPAC crowd.
Trump’s words played into the deepest fears of traditional Republicans and their allies, who have failed over the last decade to wrest the party from him – and have few answers for how to win now.
Christie, who twice ran against Trump and lost, predicted average Americans would eventually get fed up with the former reality TV star.
“This is not to say we shouldn’t stand up and continue to do what we’re doing,” he said of his fellow outcastes. “But everyone’s going to get there at their own pace.”
Conservative Republican and President Donald Trump clothing for sale at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD, Feb. 21, 2025.
Trump later crowed at CPAC that his opponents had “lost their confidence.”
The victory lap was the culmination of a remarkable four years that saw voters boot Trump from office, only to take him back in 2024, this time more determined to remake America in his image.
Trump’s reelection was a high-water mark for the rowdy rightwing politics and culture that CPAC has long nurtured, and he was treated like a conquering hero during his speech on Saturday.
Yet the Republican’s aggressive first month in office has sparked a growing backlash and may give credence to his opponents’ let-Trump-implode strategy.
‘Days of Thunder’
Trump has never lacked confidence, and his return to power after exile in the political wilderness – which he overcame despite being charged in four criminal cases, and a cinematic, near-miss assassination attempt – has only emboldened him.
“Our movement is thriving, fighting, winning and dominating like never before,” Trump declared at CPAC.
Billionaire Elon Musk has emerged as Trump’s most powerful lieutenant, blitzing through federal agencies with the Department of Government Efficiency in a drastic cost cutting spree that speaks to the conservative base’s long held desire to lay waste to the federal bureaucracy.
Musk appeared on stage at CPAC with a chainsaw to symbolize his approach to slashing spending.
Speakers called Trump’s reelection transformational.
“We have finally awakened from this woke nightmare, and it is a new day in America,” said U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., who defeated staunch Trump critic Liz Cheney in a GOP primary.
Steve Bannon, a former White House adviser and a leading MAGA figure, broadcast his War Room podcast live from CPAC, and spent more than an hour afterward signing autographs and posing for pictures. He came in second in the CPAC straw poll of favored presidential candidates for 2028, behind Vance.
Bannon said in an interview that Trump’s movement at first seemed “dead” in the wake of the 2020 election.
Steve Bannon with Del Bigtree, CEO of Maha Alliance PAC (Make America Healthy Again), right, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, CPAC 2025, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD, Feb. 21, 2025.
But “we got a rally point, we dusted ourselves off and look at it, four years later… we’re sitting here with a president, and we’re 30 days into days of thunder,” Bannon said.
Trump is moving at the pace of someone making up for lost time. And even his supporters weren’t expecting him to go this big.
“We’re happy that Trump won. We’re ecstatic he’s exceeding our expectations,” said Ronald Wilcox of Virginia, who has attended multiple CPACs.
Attendees voiced optimism, vindication and a sense the culture had shifted in their direction. Some described feeling alienated at times for their views – and freer now to express them.
People react as U.S. President Donald Trump (not pictured) addresses the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 22, 2025. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
Deborah Yanna, a Trump delegate from Iowa, who was selling handmade sequined jackets with MAGA slogans for $400 to $600, likened the revival to awakening a “sleeping giant.”
“Obviously we’re stirring up stuff,” Yanna said. “We’re not going to put up with it anymore.”
Trump’s victory has thrilled his supporters, including on the far-right fringe. A group of Trump backers who he pardoned after they were charged with storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, attended CPAC, shouting throughout Trump’s speech. One had his Trump pardon in his wallet and pulled it out to show a reporter.
Despite conservative elation, there already are signs that some of Trump’s moves could backfire. His efforts to expand executive authority, concentrate power and neutralize any checks by co-equal branches of government have Democrats complaining about executive overreach.
A demonstrator protesting President Donald Trump and Elon Musk holds a placard depicting Musk outside the U.S. Capitol, as Republicans were preparing to vote on Trump’s tax-cut agenda, in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 25, 2025.
The chaotic DOGE cuts, some of which were quickly walked back, have generated angry crowds at town hall meetings held by GOP lawmakers. Many of Trump’s early actions are tied up in court.
Bannon drew attention at CPAC for promoting an unconstitutional third Trump term and for a hand gesture he gave after his CPAC speech that was likened to a Nazi salute. The leader of a far-right French political party canceled his CPAC appearance in protest of the gesture. Bannon dismissed the controversy as “ridiculous,” saying he was doing “a wave I give my audience all the time.”
Trump supporters, he said, are prepared to dig in. “I think it’s grim determination that the fight is just starting.”
Scenes from the wilderness
Meanwhile, at the Principles First conference, attendees searched for a 2028 candidate and a coalition that could – somehow – defeat MAGA.
Billionaire Mark Cuban, a self-described independent who endorsed Democrat Kamala Harris, said he wouldn’t be spending his personal wealth trying to counter Musk’s political operation. He predicted Trump would overstep.
“People are starting to realize that chaos is not good for this country. There’s no amount of money that overcomes that,” Cuban said. “The only person who can convince a Donald Trump supporter to not support Donald Trump is Donald Trump.”
“He’ll do it for us.”
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Trump, for his part, told CPAC he won’t let up. “I have not yet begun to fight,” he said.
That morning, the president had given Musk license to get even more aggressive. Federal employees then received a Saturday afternoon email telling them they had until Monday night to provide a summary of what they’d accomplished in the previous workweek or face termination.
Some Principles First attendees had more hope for the Republican Party’s future than others.
Hutchinson, who challenged Trump in the 2024 primary, said he wants Trump to succeed. “But after that, we’ve got a debate for our future,” he said.
Hutchinson said Trump is still in a “honeymoon” period and enjoys strong GOP support.
“But over time as he becomes more extreme in his support of dictators, or he diminishes the rule of law, then the contrary voices will arise to a greater extent,” he added, predicting a Republican governor could emerge to lead the party in a different direction.
President Donald Trump holds a hat after signing an executive order in the Oval Office, at the White House in Washington, D.C., Feb. 25, 2025.
Others aren’t so sure.
Julie Lind traveled from Tempe, Arizona, with her husband, Kevin, in search of camaraderie.
The politicians Lind said she considers leaders these days have left the GOP. Now, she’s also considering changing her party affiliation.
“The longtime principles of the Republican Party, I still believe in those,” the former political consultant said. “But because the party, the chosen leader, does not adhere to any of those, now I have to decide, am I a Republican, or am I just a conservative?”
Virginia resident Daniel Molloy said he believes non-MAGA Republicans can still reassert themselves.
“I think fundamentally, Trump is kind of his own thing,” he said. “In some ways, I don’t think anyone that’s currently in that MAGA-sphere is gonna be able to really hold it all together the way that he has.”
“And I think that after Trump leaves – hopefully – you’re going to see kind of another struggle for the GOP identity.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MAGA ecstasy: Trump rides high with GOP critics out in the cold
