WASHINGTON: Donald Trump's hold on the Republican Party will be on full display as an annual gathering of prominent US conservatives began in earnest on Friday, with the former president expected to chart a future for the party with himself as the lead figure.
Prominent congressional conservatives - including Senators Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley, and Representatives Steve Scalise and Matt Gaetz - were among the Trump loyalists expected to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, which Trump will address on Sunday.
In his speech, Trump is expected to talk about the future of the party and lay out policy differences within a group riven by differences on the way forward in the wake of his chaotic four years in office.
"The divide right now is between the 'Beltway elites' and the conservative grassroots around the country," said a Trump adviser who helped prepare the speech.
Trump will also offer red-meat rhetoric critical of his successor, Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump's tumultuous final weeks in office saw his supporters launch a deadly attack on the US Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to block Congress from certifying Biden's election victory, a win that Trump falsely claimed was tainted by widespread fraud.
A total of 17 members of his party in Congress voted to impeach or convict him for inciting insurrection, although the Senate vote fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict. Some prominent Republicans including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell blasted Trump for his role in sparking the conflagration, but more members still voice support for him.
Trump also faces legal challenges, with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office conducting a criminal investigation of his family-run Trump Organization.
Some advisers say they want Trump not to use his speech to relitigate the election at length but instead offer a road map to Republicans' taking back control of the House of Representatives and the Senate in the 2022 congressional elections.
"Obviously, he will talk about his belief that the election had major problems in it," said one Trump adviser. "However, I believe and I hope that he pivots to how we fight Biden's socialist agenda for America and hope that it will be about the future, not the past."
Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Trump's closest allies in Congress, told reporters in the Capitol that he expected Trump to talk about his policy achievements, the drawbacks of Biden's approach to immigration and energy and to lay out a hopeful future for his "America First" agenda.
Graham said he told Trump it "would be a big mistake" to focus on the past election. Asked whether he thought Trump would follow that advice, Graham responded: "We'll see."
2024 CANDIDACY?
Trump, 74, is expected to dangle the possibility of running for president again in 2024, a prospect that complicates life for other Republican presidential hopefuls, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Vice President Mike Pence.
Pence, who was in the Capitol with his family when rioters stormed in chanting: "Hang Mike Pence!" is not expected to attend this year's CPAC.
Trump had repeatedly said Pence had the power to stop the certification of the election results, even though he did not.
CPAC is an event organized by the American Conservative Union, whose chairman, Matt Schlapp, is close to Trump. It is a prime venue for speakers who want to gauge interest in whether they should run for president based on the enthusiasm they generate.
Many Republicans think Trump will flirt with another run to freeze the 2024 field but believe he will ultimately opt out of running. Trump himself has mused privately to advisers that he would like to run.