By BILL BARROW, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservatives from across the country filled a ballroom a few blocks from the White House and lamented that the United States is abandoning the ideals that forged a great nation. Some attendees donned red hats with various inscriptions mocking President Donald Trump and his “Make America Great Again” movement.
It was the largest gathering to date of the “Principles First Summit,” expanded upon Trump’s second term to welcome independents and center-left Democrats under a shared pro-democracy, anti-authoritarian aim.
“This is not a time to bend the knee, to play along,” said Heath Mayo, the Yale-educated attorney who founded Principles First five years ago for self-identified politically homeless conservatives. “This is a time for stiffening your spine, standing up and getting ready for a long fight.”
Yet three days of conversations and recriminations still left 1,200 attendees without a clear roadmap to loosen Trump’s grip on the conservative movement and America’s national identity. There was not even consensus on whether to fight within Republican spheres at all, migrate to the Democratic Party or find a different path altogether.
“It makes you feel better to know that you’re not alone and that you’re not crazy,” said Jeff Oppenheim, a retired U.S. Army colonel from Austin, Texas. “The question is how to translate that into action in a political system that’s very difficult to influence, because it’s structured in a way that two parties have complete control.”
Mark Cuban, the entrepreneur and “Shark Tank” co-host who was one of then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ most prominent surrogates last fall, got a rousing ovation when he took the stage but vowed that he would not run for the White House. He dismissed the Democratic Party, profanely, as unable to sell its own message.
FILE – Businessman Mark Cuban speaks after attending meetings at the White House, March 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
“I’m not here to throw him under the bus,” Cuban said of Trump, praising the Republican president’s ability as a marketer who convinced voters he could help them.
Democrats, Cuban said, make their critiques of Trump moot because they “can’t sell worth s—.”
Trump’s allies mocked the gathering in advance as full of “RINOs,” or Republicans in name only. White House communications director Steven Cheung called it “the Cuck Convention” on his government account. The word “cuck,” which describes a man who likes to watch his wife have sex with other men, was frequently used during the campaign to insult and emasculate rivals.
Trump has far greater control of the Republican Party in his second term, with allies across Congress and the loyalty of most of the party’s base. But his few remaining rivals within the party argue there are still ways to break his hold.
Former U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a frequent Trump target who was among the people to receive a preemptive pardon from President Joe Biden, pointed to Republicans’ narrow 218-215 majority in the House and said lawmakers are privately nervous as recent town halls show voter anger over billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his sweeping moves to fire federal workers, shut down agencies and limit federal services.
Kinzinger urged critics to ratchet up pressure in public settings because critical town hall audiences, he argued, offer the most “uncomfortable” moments of a politician’s job.
“Right now, Republican members of Congress fear one person: Donald Trump. They don’t fear you,” Kinzinger said. “When they start fearing you, that’s when they start having a different calculus.”
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Julie Spilsbury, a councilmember from Mesa, Arizona, wants to maintain her place in Republican ranks. Like more than two dozen attendees and speakers interviewed by The Associated Press, Spilsbury cast her 2024 ballot for Harris for president. But she also publicly endorsed the Democratic nominee, saying it was a matter of “character and integrity.”
She now faces an ongoing recall effort by Trump backers in Mesa.
“If you’re looking for something you can do, send me $10” for her retention campaign, Spilsbury told fellow conference attendees.
When Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas governor who ran in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a centrist Democrat, offered carefully measured assessments of Trump’s opening weeks, they got mixed or muted responses. Especially tepid was the reaction when Hutchinson said he believes Trump when the president says he will respect court decisions in the many early challenges to his executive actions.
But roars rang out for the police officers who tried to protect the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and their unyielding assessments of Trump and his pardon of 1,500 supporters who breached the seat of Congress, including many who violently attacked law enforcement.
“We need to hold on to the outrage and hold on to the anger and set aside the fear,” insisted Michael Fanone, a former Washington officer who was attacked by rioters. Asked whether he would accept an invitation to talk to Trump, Fanone said the president is incapable of being convinced he is wrong and dismissed him with a profanity.
Fanone and his fellow officers later were accosted in an upstairs lobby by Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, freshly freed from prison by Trump’s pardon. The following day, Principles First leaders received an emailed bomb threat specifically mentioning Fanone, his mother’s address and other potential targets. The summit space was evacuated as Washington police and Secret Service agents swept the area and found no bomb, allowing the conference to conclude Sunday evening. Organizers blamed the threat on Tarrio, who denied the claim in a post on his social media.
Maria Stephan, a progressive at her first Principles First gathering, called the evacuation “emboldening” given the weekend’s themes.
Yet Rich Logis of Broward County, Florida, offered caution as a former MAGA acolyte whose red hat now reads: “I LEFT MAGA.” Another wave of converts, Logis argued, is coming if Trump continues to impose tariffs, cut public services and impose policies that hurt Americans broadly.
“Everyone has to find their own breaking point,” Logis said. “Our job is to be there talking to people as they find it.”
