"Principles First" summit meets: Critical Republicans drum up opposition to Trump

Republicans critical of Trump are meeting in Washington for three days to find a strategy against the authoritarian course of the White House. The renegades need all their courage. The right-wing "Proud Boys" are threateningly walking into the foyer of the event hall.

Republicans from across the country gather in a ballroom just blocks from the White House, complaining that the United States has abandoned the ideals that made a great nation. Some attendees wear red hats with various slogans mocking US President Donald Trump and his "Make America Great Again" movement.

It is the largest gathering of the "Principles First Summit" to date, which opened up to independents and center-left Democrats at the start of Trump's second term in office in order to pursue the common goal of a pro-democratic and anti-authoritarian USA. "This is not the time to bend the knee and play along," said Heath Mayo. The lawyer, who studied at Yale, founded the movement five years ago to give conservatives who had become politically homeless a place to go. "This is the time to show backbone, to stand up and prepare for a long fight."

But even after three days of talk and finger-pointing, the 1,200 attendees parted ways without a clear roadmap for loosening Trump's grip on the conservative movement and national identity. There was no agreement even on whether the fight should be fought in Republican spheres, a switch to the Democrats was in order, or a completely different path needed to be taken. "It makes you feel better to know that you are not alone and that you are not crazy," said Jeff Oppenheim, a retired U.S. Army colonel from Austin, Texas. "The question is how to put that into practice in a political system that is very difficult to influence because it is structured in such a way that two parties have complete control."

ridicule from Trump supporters

The entrepreneur Mark Cuban, one of the moderators of the TV show "Shark Tank", has in the past been an advocate of the Democrat Kamala Harris, Trump's opponent in the 2024 presidential election campaign. He received great applause when he took the stage at the conference in Washington. He ruled out running for the highest office himself. The Democratic Party is not in a position to sell its own message, he said. "I'm not here to throw him under the bus," Cuban said of Trump, praising his ability as a marketer who managed to convince voters that he could help them.

Trump's allies mocked the meeting in advance, saying it was full of "RINOs" - "Republicans in name only". Communications director Steven Cheung even denigrated the meeting as a "cuck convention". The word "cuck" describes a man who enjoys watching his wife having sex with other men. During the election campaign, the term was often used to insult rivals or denigrate their masculinity.

In his second term, Trump has even more control over the Republicans than before. Congress is packed with his loyalists and much of the party base is loyal to him. Nevertheless, his few remaining rivals in the party argue that there are still ways to break his influence.

Annoying town hall meetings against Musk cause nervousness

Former House Representative Adam Kinzinger, a fellow member of Trump's party, was repeatedly the target of his attacks. Trump's Democratic predecessor Joe Biden pardoned him preemptively. Kinzinger pointed to the Republicans' narrow majority in the House of Representatives of 218 representatives. The Democrats have only three fewer representatives. The people's representatives are nervous, he said. The reason for this was town hall meetings at which voters expressed their anger at billionaire and government advisor Elon Musk, who wants to fire civil servants, close agencies and restrict federal services.

Kinzinger called on critics to increase public pressure. A critical audience at a public dialogue, for example, is one of the most uncomfortable situations in a politician's working life. "At the moment, Republican members of Congress fear one person: Donald Trump. They don't fear you," he said. "When they start to fear you, they start to have another agenda."

Julie Spilsbury, a council member in Mesa, Arizona, wants to maintain her place in the Republican ranks. But like more than two dozen participants and speakers at the meeting in Washington, she told the AP news agency that she voted for Harris in November. She also publicly spoke out in favor of the Democrat - it was a question of "character and integrity." Now she is facing calls for her resignation from Trump supporters in Mesa. "If you're looking for something you can do, send me ten dollars" for the re-election campaign, she told conference participants.

"We must put fear aside"

Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, who is seeking to run for president in the 2024 Republican primary, and Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a centrist Democrat, offered carefully considered assessments of Trump's first weeks in office - and were met with mixed reactions or even silence. The audience was particularly skeptical when Hutchinson said he believed the president when he said he would accept court decisions regarding his many executive orders.

There were loud expressions of support for the police officers who tried to protect the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the heart of US democracy to prevent the certification of Biden's victory in the 2020 presidential election. Just hours after his re-swearing-in in January, Trump pardoned about 1,500 of the rioters - including those who had attacked police officers.

"We have to hold on to the outrage, the anger, and put aside the fear," insisted Michael Fanone, a former Washington police officer who was attacked during the Capitol storming. When asked whether he would accept an invitation to speak with Trump, he said the president was unable to recognize his own misjudgments.

Threats from the "Proud Boys" in the foyer

Later, Fanone and his former colleagues were approached in a lobby by the leader of the far-right Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, who was one of the beneficiaries of Trump's Capitol rioters' pardons. A day later, the Principles First leaders received a bomb threat via email that explicitly mentioned Fanone and listed his mother's address and other potential targets.

The venue was evacuated, Washington police and Secret Service agents searched for explosives, found nothing - and the conference was able to conclude on Sunday evening (local time). The organizers blamed Tarrio for the bomb threat. He denied this in a social media post.

Rich Logis of Florida, a former "Make America Great Again" supporter, said if Trump continues to impose tariffs, cut public services and implement policies that hurt many Americans, there could be even more converts like himself. "Everyone has to find their own breaking point," said the man, who wore a red cap with the words "I left MAGA" on it. "Our job is to be there and talk to people when they find theirs."