Story highlights Donald Trump Jr. and Ted Cruz attend Dallas GOP event

It was Trump's first public political appearance since his father took office

Dallas (CNN) Donald Trump Jr. made his first political public appearance since his father's inauguration, taking an election victory lap and growing nostalgic for the campaign trail.

"I thought I was out of politics after election day," Trump said Saturday, speaking at the Dallas County Republican Party's Reagan Day Dinner, where he recalled his father's unpredictable path to the presidency.

"I thought I'd be going back to my regular job. I thought I'd be really excited about it. But once you get a little bit of a taste of that action, it's hard to leave. You know, listen, deals are still exciting, but when you're sort of the guy out there 24/7, every day fighting in this thing — it's like a great fight, the intensity. I don't miss the politics, I promise. I want nothing to do with the politics, but I miss the intensity of that," he said, reminiscing about the no-sleep, fast-paced days of the campaign when he paraded around as one of the only surrogates.

He praised his father's first 50 days in office: "What's exciting for me, as an American, as a father of five young kids, is I'm watching more take place in two months than I saw in two terms before," Trump said as nearly 1,000 Dallas County Republicans dined on lettuce wedges in a downtown hotel ballroom.

Trump used his remarks to thank Texas Republicans, who he said, "gave us the funds to go over and win all those other states."

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