Conservative government officials and national political figures gathered in Washington, D.C., for the National Conservatism Conference this week, delivering impassioned speeches on the movement’s goals and ideals — many of which are being implemented by the Trump administration.
The conference brought together politicians, scholars, and activists advancing nationalist ideas.
Russell Vought, Center for Renewing America founder
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought was among the morning 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 to the crowd, many nodding along with each statement.
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Vought discussed the rise of a durable national conservative movement shaped by President Donald 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,” Vought said. “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.”
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 changes in racial tensions and culture wars, as well as 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. “And you know what that was? … Any time you threw the word ‘racism’ at a public official, before that … they would go run. And that had been a Kryptonite of the Right for decades. That does not exist anymore.”
He continued touting conservative successes in not only influencing politicians but also citizens.
“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 said.
Tom Homan, ‘border czar’
Tom Homan, who spoke after Vought, opened his address by praising his efforts in securing the southern border.
“First of all, today, we have the most secure border in the history of this nation,” he said.
Homan, a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and longtime immigration official, defended the agency and its mission.
“Sanctuary cities will be a thing of the past,” he said, drawing applause.
Homan highlighted what he deemed to be major improvements in border security under Trump, citing a 96% reduction in illegal immigration and praising policies that led to the removal of over 380,000 criminals and terrorists since January 2025.
“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,” Homan said. “Statute says you come to 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.”
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 time period in 2024.
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“One of the reasons 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 said.
Homan 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,” Homan said, receiving more applause from attendees.
“They sold this country out for future political power, and I think that’s borderline treasonous,” he said.
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.
Mike Davis, a Trump ally and former lawyer for the president
“These are Marxists. 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 what we’re gonna have to deal with this [and] that,” Mike Davis 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,” Davis said.
Speakers consistently praised 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.
