Las Vegas (CNN) If there's one person relishing in Washington's Trump-era dysfunction, it's Libertarian Party Chairman Nicholas Sarwark, who sees the tumult as a prime recruitment opportunity.

"I have to give thanks to Donald Trump and the Republican Party," said Sarwark, a former defense attorney who has led the Libertarian Party since 2014. "Their success in getting control of government and then showing that they can't do anything once they have that control has been a better argument for joining the Libertarian Party than anything I could say."

As part of his efforts, Sarwark joined more than 1,000 libertarians and conservatives recently here in Las Vegas for a free-wheeling annual gathering called FreedomFest, fertile recruiting grounds where attendees held a robust skepticism of government power and where opinions of President Donald Trump were mixed.

Activities at the four-day confab were varied: One could attend academic lectures on Adam Smith, discussion panels about whether space aliens would be libertarians, debates over open borders and a film festival. You could also listen to a dialogue between actors dressed as Ayn Rand and Benjamin Franklin, watch a speech by actor William Shatner and attend a blowout party for Steve Forbes' birthday.

FreedomFest has been a mainstay of the Las Vegas convention circuit for a decade. But this marked the first gathering of Trump's presidency, which has divided even like-minded communities, including attendees here.

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