Conservative government officials and national conservatives gathered in Washington, D.C., this week for the National Conservatism Conference, delivering impassioned speeches on the movement’s goals and ideals—many of which are being implemented by the Trump administration.
The National Conservatism Conference brings together politicians, scholars, and activists advancing nationalist ideas.
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Russ Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Trump and now head of the Center for Renewing America, was among the keynote speakers.
“Whether it’s being more judicious with why we go to war, that gets you called an appeaser, that gets you called an isolationist, if you’re talking about issues of faith, that gets you called a bigot,if you’re talking about why we would want to possibly upend critical race theory, that would get you called a racist. And so there’s a certain toughness to the national conservative movement that I think is entirely healthy and has allowed us to enter the moment that we’re in with a far better chance of success,” Vought said, in a crowd of supporters many nodding along with each of his statements.
Vought discussed the rise of a durable national conservative movement shaped by President Trump’s agenda, focused on preserving the country and confronting issues such as immigration, critical race theory, and transgender policies. He emphasized the movement’s toughness, criticized the bureaucratic state, and called for aggressive constitutional reforms and the creation of lasting intellectual institutions.
“we’re at a moment of precipice…because of what was on the line. What was on the line was that we had not just one existential issue, not just two existential issues. We had many, many existential issues…the fact that we were up against a bureaucracy that was 100 years in the making. Some would call it the deep state. Some would call it the administrative state. I would call it the woke and weaponized administrative state because,” Vought said.
A close ally of the president and a central architect of Project 2025—a conservative policy blueprint to restructure the federal government—Vought emphasized the rise and changes of racial tensions and cultural wars in the country and disdain for critical race theory.
“ I remember President Trump said, I want you to get rid of it in the federal government. I want you to defund it, and I did do that,” Vought said.
“The notion that in any way we were going to take a back seat to defending the notion that we should all be equal under the side of the law and that we’re not going to have state-sanctioned racists, was something that was anathema to him, and he gave us an example. And you know what that was? The first time a public official had done anything like that. Anytime you threw the word racism at a public official before that moment, they would go run. And that had been a Kryptonite of the of the right for decades, that does not exist anymore.”
He continued on touting the successes of the Conservatism movement in not only influencing politicians but also citizens as well.
“And that toughness, that ability to withstand the attacks of the left has been paramount. It has been the thing that they have not accounted for, because it has been their strategic playbook for over 100 years
Vought was followed by Border Czar Tom Homan, who opened his address by touting his efforts in securing the southern border.
“First of all today, we have the most secure border in the history of this nation.”
Homan, a former ICE director and longtime immigration official, passionately defended the agency and its mission.
“Sanctuary cities will be a thing of the past,” he declared, drawing audible applause from the audience.
Homan highlighted what he deemed to be major improvements in border security under President Trump, citing a 96% reduction in illegal immigration and praising policies that led to over 380,000 removals of criminals and terrorists since January 2021.
“Here’s a difference between the Biden administration and the Trump administration: we’re using the laws on the books to enforce immigration law in this country. We’re Not Making This Up. Everything we have done is in statute. You know what? Statute says you become the border illegally and enter the statute says you shall be detained, not maybe not think about it, not released to an NGO. That’s what we’ve done,” Homan said.
According to ICE, attacks on its agents have spiked dramatically in recent months. The agency reported a 1,000% increase in attacks since July, with an 830% rise in assaults between Jan. 21 and July 14, compared with the same period in 2024.
“One of the reason we have the most secure borders in our nation right now is because of…ICE, despite all the hate and rhetoric they are taking… And to the men and women who don’t like that they are doing this, go complain to Congress.”
He routinely criticized the Biden administration for reversing measures, blamed rising illegal immigration for increased crime and exploitation, and defended ICE against negative portrayals by the media and Congress.
Homan didn’t shy away from controversy, offering an emotional defense of Trump-era immigration policies.
“I don’t want to hear another word about the cruelty of the Trump administration. I’ll say it again, he’s saving thousands of lives and we’re rescuing children every day because of the incompetence of the Biden administration,” he said, which garnered audible applause from attendees.
“They sold this country out for future political power, and I think that’s borderline treasonous.”
Many of the speeches struck a combative tone, framing the conservative agenda as a direct challenge to what was described as a hostile political and cultural establishment.
“These are Marxist many of them hate America and they’re trying to destroy our country from within, and many of these leftists were appointed by Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the federal bench. It’s we’re gonna have to deal with this that,” said.
“Thank God President Trump won this last election, because just imagine if we had 10, 20 million people in Biden’s four years. Just imagine what the Democrats would have done over the next four years, we would have lost our country,” Mike Davis a close ally and former lawyer for President Trump, said.
Speakers consistently praised President Trump, emphasizing his central role in the national conservative movement and the enduring loyalty he commands among its leaders. Throughout the event, a unifying theme emerged: a collective commitment to fundamentally reshaping American institutions through the principles of national conservatism.