WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥 It鈥檚 an ideological faction transforming the Republican Party in President Donald Trump鈥檚 second term. Now firmly in power, its leaders gathered this week beneath a downtown Washington hotel to bask in their triumph 鈥 and to chart what comes next.
鈥淒onald Trump鈥檚 victory was not just a win for his movement but for the ideas of the people in this room,鈥 Missouri Sen. told the crowd. 鈥淣ational conservatism is an idea whose time has arrived.鈥
Members of Congress, Trump administration officials, donors and right-wing pundits gathered this week for the annual National Conservatism Conference 鈥 a gathering once seen as fringe, now asserting itself as the GOP鈥檚 dominant ideological force. Panel titles ranged from 鈥淭he Threat of Islamism in America鈥 to 鈥淭he Bible and American Renewal鈥 to 鈥淥verturn Obergefell,鈥 the Supreme Court case that .
It all underscored the movement’s vision of an America rooted in limited immigration, Christian identity and the preservation of what speakers called the nation鈥檚 traditional culture.
Schmitt, a first-term senator, followed a GOP donor鈥檚 speech on 鈥淭he Problem of Our Time: White Guilt鈥 with a talk of his own titled 鈥淲hat is an American?鈥 In it, Schmitt criticized some legal immigration, declared that 鈥淎merica doesn鈥檛 belong to them 鈥 it belongs to us,鈥 and insisted, 鈥淲e can no longer apologize for who we are.鈥
鈥淥ur people tamed the continent, built a civilization from the wilderness,鈥 Schmitt said. 鈥淲e Americans are the sons and daughters of the Christian pilgrims who poured out onto the ocean鈥檚 shores.鈥
鈥楢merica is not just an idea鈥
In July 2024, then-Sen. JD Vance used after accepting the vice presidential nomination to declare: 鈥淎merica is not just an idea. It is a group of people with a shared history and a common future. It is, in short, a nation.鈥
That idea is central to what national conservatism is. With its first conference in the U.S. in 2019, the national conservatism movement is a project of the Edmund Burke Foundation, a conservative U.S. think tank. Its founder, Israeli political theorist Yoram Hazony, defines national conservatism as a political philosophy centered on the restoration and preservation of national and religious traditions 鈥 ideals he says are essential to a nation鈥檚 long-term strength and cohesion.
Vance has spoken at multiple National Conservatism Conferences and in 2021 credited Hazony as 鈥渜uite influential to me.鈥 His elevation to vice president 鈥 and the policy shifts that followed 鈥 signaled that the movement had fully arrived in power.
In 2021, while campaigning for the Senate, Vance delivered the conference keynote, calling on conservatives to 鈥渉onestly and aggressively attack the universities in this country.鈥 Four years later, the Trump administration has done just that, targeting universities by .
In the shadow of the White House
This year’s conference was held in the heart of Washington, just blocks from the White House.
High-profile speakers included Director of National Intelligence , White House budget director , Trump border czar , and three U.S. senators. The speaker list also featured more controversial figures, such as John Eastman 鈥 an central in efforts to overturn the 2020 election after Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden 鈥 and , a Michigan priest who lost his license after mimicking a straight-arm gesture interpreted by some as a Nazi salute.
Many of the top speakers used their time to defend Trump administration policies and lash out at critics. Vought declared that the Government Accountability Office 鈥渟houldn鈥檛 exist鈥 after it said his latest effort to claw back funds already approved by Congress is illegal. On the broader push for the rollback of appropriated funds, or rescissions, he said, 鈥淚f Congress has given us authority that is too broad, then we鈥檙e going to use that authority aggressively to protect the American people.鈥
On an 鈥淥verturn Obergefell鈥 panel, Katy Faust, a right-wing author, argued that legalizing gay marriage had weakened the rights of biological parents: 鈥淭he moment the state has the power to assign parenthood to strangers, it can unassign it from you. Your legal relationship to the children you鈥檝e begotten is weaker than it was a decade ago.鈥
Thomas Klingenstein, a top Republican donor, argued in a speech that the greatest problem facing the nation is 鈥渨hite guilt.鈥
鈥淢any Americans voted for President Trump in 2016 because he told them what they knew but needed to hear: America could be great again,鈥 said Klingenstein. “Now, Trump must tell them something else they know but need to hear: America is no longer guilty of systemic racism, or most any racism for that matter.鈥
‘What winning looks like’
The 2025 conference served in part as a celebration. The founder, Hazony, opened the event with a speech about 鈥渨hat winning looks like.鈥 Vought urged attendees to further push forward the movement 鈥渟o that the movement built around President Trump is a durable intellectual river.鈥
But no one made a louder entrance than Missouri鈥檚 junior senator, Schmitt.
Opening his 30-minute address with force, Schmitt declared the moment 鈥渁 revolt within the right.鈥 He offered immigration policy as the prime example.
鈥淭he old conservative establishment may have opposed something like illegal immigration on procedural grounds, simply because it was illegal,鈥 he said. 鈥淎t this point, it should be clear that the fact that something is sanctioned by our government does not mean it鈥檚 good for our country.
鈥淭hat much is obvious with various forms of legal immigration today.鈥
He closed by outlining his view that America is 鈥渁 nation and a people, with its own distinct history and heritage and interests.鈥
That heritage, he said, is one of pilgrims and settlers who repelled 鈥渨ave after wave of Indian war band attacks.鈥 He said 鈥渆very great feat of the modern world bore American fingerprints,鈥 calling those who built skyscrapers, split the atom, invented the airplane and walked on the moon.
鈥淎merica, in all its glory, is their gift to us, handed down across the generations. It belongs to us. It鈥檚 our birthright, our heritage, our destiny,鈥 Schmitt said.
Though the ballroom was only half full, Schmitt鈥檚 remarks quickly reverberated online, as his team pushed out clips across social media.
In just over two years, he has built a close alliance with Trump, helping move key legislation through the Senate. But this speech marked something more: a signal that national conservatism now has a firm foothold in the halls of Congress.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not sorry. Why would we be sorry?鈥 Schmitt said in closing. 鈥淎merica is the proudest and most magnificent heritage ever known to man.鈥
