OXON HILL, MD.—When Ronald Reagan spoke to the Conservative Political Action Conference two months into his presidency, he invoked conservative philosophers of yore, hailed Barry Goldwater, and spoke in lofty tones of American idealism and “goodness.”

President Donald Trump, appearing at CPAC a month into his presidency, did — not that, at all.

The crowd loved it.

Donald Trump said 8 false things in his speech at CPAC on Friday

Trump, continuing to be Trump, gave a Friday speech almost indistinguishable from one of his campaign rally addresses — jabs at Hillary Clinton and all. Alternating between scripted nationalism and improvised monologuing about himself, the Republican president bashed the news media, insulted U.S. allies, mocked pollsters and pundits, complained that America never wins at anything, disavowed responsibility for solving global problems, and vowed to stand up for workers, gun owners and people he said have been harmed by Obamacare.

The crowd — young-leaning, mostly in suits, in a ballroom in the Washington suburbs — ate it all up, as per usual. When Trump scoffed at Clinton’s suggestion that some of his supporters were “deplorables,” the room erupted in a chant of “lock her up.” Trump, who promised during the campaign to prosecute Clinton, did not respond.

Trump made his usual promises, all of which are popular with Republicans: a border wall, a hard line on illegal immigration, a military buildup, a massive tax cut. In perhaps his most startling remark, he described the “fake” media as “the enemy of the people,” as he did on Twitter a week prior — a remark described by retired Navy Admiral William McRaven, who led the raid against Osama bin Laden, as perhaps “the greatest threat to democracy” in his lifetime.

In his speech, Trump wrongly accused the media even of inaccurately covering his “enemy of the people” tweet. He offered a kind of clarification: he was not saying the media is an enemy of the people, merely the “fake news” segment — a claim belied by his specific mention of ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and the New York Times.

He dismissed free speech concerns, saying the First Amendment also gives him the right to denounce the media. He then called for the abolition of anonymous sources, though senior officials in his administration themselves insist on being quoted anonymously.

“Because they have no sources, they just make ‘em up when there are none,” he said. “I saw one story recently where they said, ‘Nine people have confirmed.’ There’re no nine people. I don’t believe there was one or two people. Nine people,” he said — apparently referring to an accurate Washington Post article that led to Trump’s firing of national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Trump also renewed his criticism of Sweden’s intake of Muslim refugees, insisting he was “right” with the Saturday claims that prompted confusion and criticism from the American ally. (Trump was objectively wrong, at least, in his claim that something dire had happened in Sweden the previous night.) And reprising a story that has irked France, another ally, he said one of his friends — “Jim,” a “very substantial guy” — is no longer willing to visit Paris.

Trump, who made his first speech to the conference in 2011, used previous CPAC events to build his political brand, testing out policy positions and slogans that would become his trademark. But he had also faced opposition from CPAC conservatives who had seen the former Democrat as a poser. He dropped out of last year’s event, during the presidential campaign, to do a rally in Kansas — prompting organizers to tweet, “Very disappointed @realDonaldTrump has decided at the last minute to drop out of #CPAC -- his choice sends a clear message to conservatives.”

Things have changed. This year’s event has been so Trump-friendly that senior aide Kellyanne Conway said Thursday that it would be known as “TPAC” by Friday. Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and chief of staff, Reince Priebus, made a joint Thursday appearance. Vice-President Mike Pence capped the day with a speech in which he said Trump reminded him of Reagan, a conservative icon.

“I wouldn’t miss a chance to talk to my friends. These are my friends,” Trump said, vowing to return year after year.

As always, Trump made a series of false claims — that the Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement had endorsed him (unions of their employees did, not the agencies), that he has approved the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada (he has merely invited TransCanada to reapply for approval), even that there was a six-block line to enter the building (there was no line at all by the time he spoke).

Trump elaborated on the “America First” credo he emphasized in his inaugural address. His movement, he said, is centred on a conviction that America “will put its own citizens first.”

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“Global co-operation, dealing with other countries, getting along with other countries is good, it’s very important. But there is no such thing as a global anthem, a global currency or a global flag. This is the United States of America that I’m representing. I’m not representing the globe, I’m representing your country,” he said.

His philosophy on foreign affairs has little in common with the traditional Republican belief in muscular international leadership. But he drew applause throughout the speech, yet more evidence of how he has bent the conservative movement to his view of the world.

“Now you finally have a president, finally,” he said. “Took you a long time.”

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