--- title: Donald Trump CPAC Speech: Read a Complete Transcript description: President Trump reiterated calls to repeal the Affordable Care Act and build a wall on the Mexican border in a speech to conservatives. canonical: https://time.com/4682023/cpac-donald-trump-speech-transcript/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-24T16:44:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2024-01-24T12:08:40.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read a Transcript of President Trump's CPAC Speech og:description: Trump repeated many of his applause lines from the campaign trail og:url: https://time.com/4682023/cpac-donald-trump-speech-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fab932e9b998c29/6988bbcf8fd2eec333355e95/donald-trump-cpac3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: President Trump Addresses Annual CPAC Event In National Harbor, Maryland og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read a Transcript of President Trump's CPAC Speech twitter:description: Trump repeated many of his applause lines from the campaign trail twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0fab932e9b998c29/6988bbcf8fd2eec333355e95/donald-trump-cpac3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read a Transcript of President Trump's CPAC Speech > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=54dcd440-3831-4654-8e41-4aa009f2094b&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Just Boasted About Winning Polls at CPAC [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Just Boasted About Winning Polls at CPAC](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JkDLpWKV.m3u8) (0:40)  _Published 2017-02-24. President Donald Trump boasted about doing well at a grassroots conservative conference in years past, but he actually lost a straw poll of attendees every single year._ by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:08 PM UTCPublished: Feb 24, 2017 4:44 PM UTC by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Updated: Jan 24, 2024 12:08 PM UTCPublished: Feb 24, 2017 4:44 PM UTC President [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4672974/donald-trump-white-house-chaos/) called for a military buildup, [criticized the media](http://time.com/4681802/donald-trump-cpac-speech-media/) and reiterated his campaign calls to repeal the Affordable Care Act and build a wall on the Mexican border in a speech to grassroots conservatives on Friday. Speaking at the annual [Conservative Political Action Conference](http://time.com/4681503/donald-trump-cpac-conservatives-alt-right/) outside Washington, D.C., Trump repeated [many of his applause lines](http://time.com/4682003/donald-trump-cpac-welfare/) from the campaign trail, even bashing former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, which sparked a brief chant of “lock her up!” from the crowd. “I love this place. I love you people,” he told the audience. “I wouldn’t miss a chance to talk to my friends. These are my friends.” Read a complete transcript of Trump’s remarks below: --- > “” --- ## Transcript If you remember my first major speech, sit down everybody, come on. [ LAUGH ] The dishonest media, they'll say he didn't get a standing ovation. You know why? No, you know why? Because everybody stood and nobody sat. So they will say he never got a standing ovation. Right? But you know my first major speech was at CPAC. 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