Trump Stays Away as MAGA Event Explodes Into Civil War

Donald Trump will skip the Conservative Political Action Conference for the first time in almost a decade as tensions over the Iran war escalate.

As thousands of Trump’s biggest fans headed to Texas for the annual conservative jamboree that has become synonymous with Trumpism, the White House confirmed to the Daily Beast that the president was unable to attend this year due to the conflict and “other critical issues”.

The move comes as the Pentagon considers putting boots on the ground in Iran, even as Trump insisted overnight that Tehran was “begging” to make a deal.

“They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!” he said in a Truth Social post.

CPAC began in 1974 as a premier gathering of conservative leaders to debate like-minded ideas, such as taxation policy and free market principles.

But over the years, it has become a cosplay convention for Trump loyalists, complete with Trump memorabilia booths, loyalty contests, and red-meat speeches aimed at the base.

One of the most notable speeches was given by Trump himself in 2024, when he told the crowd: “I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”

Now, the Iran war threatens to cast a shadow over the conference, with some former CPAC attendees such as MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene accusing Trump of abandoning his America First principles.

“This is absolutely absurd, and it’s 100% a betrayal to what MAGA was supposed to be when we voted in 2024,” she told CNN earlier this month in relation to the war.

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Speaking on Thursday morning, CPAC senior fellow Mercedes Schlapp begged the conference to stay united in order to win the midterm elections.

“They want us divided,” she said. “We have to stay united as a movement.”

Trump die-hards were also broadly supportive of Trump’s intervention in the Middle East and angered at opposition by so-called “RINOs”—Republican In Name Only.

Nima Poursohi, who was dressed in a “Persians for Trump” t-shirt, said he visited Iran with his family when he was younger, “and seeing the oppression that my family faced and how friends of family were executed and tortured and stuff, I cannot tell you how grateful we really are for what President Trump is doing.”

“He’s putting that pressure into slowly destroying the Islamic regime that’s destroyed our country for the last 47 years,” he said.

Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio told the Daily Beast he supported Trump’s strikes but would not support boots on the ground.

Exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi and other opposition figures are expected to address attendees, reflecting a more hawkish mood at CPAC.

During an interview with Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo on Sunday, the exiled prince emphasized the need for a “very strong, stable transition” in Iran.

“The Iranian people have suffered too much to settle for anything less than that,” Pahlavi said.

Other divisive issues have also prompted calls for a CPAC boycott this year.

Ahead of the event, longtime Trump ally Roger Stone urged supporters to boycott the conference altogether over the presence of Steve Bannon, accusing him of being a “pedophile enabler” in relation to the Epstein scandal.

Conservative activist Joel Griffith also blasted the lineup, tying his opposition to broader concerns about antisemitic extremism creeping into the movement.

“As a member of YJConservatives, I’ll most definitely be boycotting this conference,” he wrote earlier this month.

And on Wednesday, Christian broadcaster Erik Erickson hit out at the invitation of former reality TV figure Todd Chrisley, who was convicted of charges of tax evasion, wire fraud, and bank fraud before being pardoned by Trump.