March 25–28, 2026 — Grapevine, Texas
For a decade, the Conservative Political Action Conference was the beating heart of the American right — the annual gathering where the movement's energy, its stars, its next generation, and its most important fights were on full display. In its prime, CPAC was, as one veteran described it, "an absolute rager." This year, at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center just outside Dallas, something felt different. Trump skipped it. Young conservatives arrived with grievances that no speaker could quite paper over. And in perhaps the most extraordinary moment of the four-day conference, CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp had to ask his own audience twice — in an increasingly desperate tone — not to cheer for impeachment hearings. Here are the five big takeaways from CPAC 2026.
1. 😳 The Crowd Didn't Know When to Cheer — Or What Impeachment Means
The single most viral moment of CPAC 2026 happened on Friday, and it was deeply uncomfortable for everyone in the room.
American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp took the stage and asked a question he apparently thought would hype up the crowd: "How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?"
The crowd erupted in cheers.
"No," Schlapp responded, shaking his head. "That was the wrong answer. Let me try it again. How many of you would like to see impeachment hearings?"
Again — cheers.
"NOOO!" Schlapp responded with a chuckle, dropped the question and hastily moved on, seemingly accepting that Trump's base apparently doesn't know what impeachment means — despite the fact that Democrats have floated the idea of impeaching Trump over the Iran war.
That was not the only moment of crowd confusion. In a conversation with White House border czar Tom Homan on Thursday, CPAC host Melody Schlapp asked how Trump's immigration policies compared to the "Biden years." Waiting for a reaction, she paused and turned to the crowd. "I'm not hearing a boo when I say Joe Biden, people!" she told the silent audience.
The crowd confusion — on the basics of political signaling that CPAC audiences would have responded to automatically a year ago — suggests something has shifted in the relationship between Trump's base and the movement's traditional structures.
2. 👶 Young Conservatives: 'I Can't Stand the Guy' — The Iran War Changed Everything
The most significant finding from this year's CPAC was not on stage. It was in the conversations reporters had with young attendees in the hallways and outside the convention center.
Alexander Selby, an 18-year-old political science student at the University of Pittsburgh, told CNN at the annual event: "I think they'll get destroyed in the midterms. I just… I get the vibe a lot of people who are new who just voted for Trump because they thought it was cool in high school, are just now being like, 'I can't stand the guy.'"
Benjamin Williams, a 25-year-old marketing specialist for Young Americans for Liberty, told the Associated Press the Iran war "does feel like a betrayal. We did not want to see more wars. We wanted actual America-first policies, and Trump was very explicit about that."
The generational divide was stark. Older conservatives were much more forgiving. "I don't believe he started a new war. He was acting in response to a 40-year-old war by Iran," 70-year-old retired defense contractor Joe Ropar of McKinney, Texas told AP. "How long were we supposed to wait?"
But younger attendees — many of whom voted for Trump in 2024 — pointed to one specific turning point: the U.S. and Israel's joint strikes on Iran on February 28, which started the ongoing war that has caused energy prices to spike. According to data from CIRCLE, 56% of Gen Z men voted for Trump in 2024. Many now say they feel betrayed.
The numbers back up what CPAC attendees were saying in the hallways. Trump's popularity among U.S. voters took a nosedive since the start of the ongoing war in Iran, according to the latest polling compiled by statistician Nate Silver. A week ago, the president had a net approval rating of -13.9; by Thursday, it had dropped to -16.7 — a record low for his second term.
3. 🇮🇷 The Iran War Divide: The Fight That Couldn't Be Hidden
CPAC organizers tried hard to present a united front on the Iran war. They hosted panels featuring victims of the Iranian regime. They invited Reza Pahlavi — the exiled son of Iran's last shah — to address the conference. They put up screens between speakers showing pro-war content. They called a panel "Mullah Madness."
It wasn't enough to cover the cracks.
There is a resentment now with younger Republicans toward Israel because they feel like the US put Israel before them, said pollster Rich Baris. That sentiment was reflected among younger CPAC attendees.
Meanwhile, the debate was much discussed among attendees in Grapevine, with age becoming a defining determinant of which side people tend to fall on. Younger conservatives at CPAC resoundingly opposed military intervention, while older Republicans were more reflexively supportive.
The speakers reflected the divide too. Steve Bannon — a longtime Trump loyalist — warned on his podcast that if the war becomes "a hard slog," it could cost the GOP crucial voters in the midterms. Matt Gaetz, the former Florida congressman, was a scheduled speaker and an outspoken skeptic of U.S. military action in Iran. Ted Cruz supported the war. Erik Prince was skeptical.
This is why Trump's support of the Iran war led Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene and other MAGA influencers, who have tens of millions of followers, to criticize Trump. The conflict, they contend, served Israel's interest — their phrase is "Israel First" — not those of the U.S.
4. 🚫 Trump Skipped It — And His Absence Was Felt
Assuming Trump doesn't add a last-minute appearance, it would be the first time he has skipped the event since he pulled out of it in 2016, citing a desire to stay on the campaign trail. But that was at a time when CPAC was considerably less Trumpy. Since then, the event has served as an opportunity for him to rally the base and show much of it was in his corner.
Trump did not appear. His absence was filled by a cast of administration officials — Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, border czar Tom Homan, and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz — but none of them carries the energy that Trump himself generates.
The contrast with CPAC 2025 was jarring. Last year, CPAC 2025 mostly served as a moment of triumph for President Donald Trump. Four years after his political career seemed finished following January 6, there was Trump riding high just a month into his second presidential term. Elon Musk was on stage with a toy chainsaw, vowing to hack away at the federal workforce. This year, the energy was subdued. There is a pall over the MAGA movement. The attendees are decked out in red, white and blue MAGA merch, but Trump is struggling through a political winter that could signal the early stages of his MAGA movement's decline.
5. 🔮 Who Comes After Trump? The 2028 Question Nobody Wants to Answer
With Trump term-limited and the movement showing signs of fracture, CPAC 2026 was the first conference where the question of what comes after Trump was genuinely in the air — even if nobody wanted to say it out loud.
With Trump skipping this year, and term-limited out of office in 2028, conservatives are beginning to grapple with those divides, and with broader questions about where the movement the president built will go once Trump himself departs.
The CPAC straw poll traditionally serves as a signal of where the activist base is heading. The question of whether figures like Marco Rubio, Ron DeSantis, J.D. Vance, or someone else might inherit the MAGA coalition loomed over every panel — even as speakers carefully avoided the topic.
The Texas Senate primary runoff — between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton — provided a useful proxy battle. Paxton, who is challenging four-term GOP Sen. John Cornyn, not only attended the event but had one of the event's premier speaking roles, the Ronald Reagan Dinner on Friday evening. Cornyn did not attend. The divide between the Paxton wing (hardcore MAGA) and the Cornyn wing (establishment Republican) previewed exactly the kind of internal battle that will define the post-Trump GOP.
📊 CPAC 2026: By the Numbers
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| 📍 Location | Gaylord Texan Resort, Grapevine, Texas |
| 📅 Dates | March 25–28, 2026 |
| 🚫 Trump attendance | Did not attend — first skip since 2016 |
| 📉 Trump approval (Nate Silver) | -16.7 net — record low for 2nd term |
| 👤 Key speakers | Bannon, Gaetz, Cruz, Homan, McMahon, Pahlavi, Graham |
| 🔥 Hot topics | Iran war, Epstein files, Texas Senate primary |
| 😳 Most viral moment | Crowd cheered for impeachment twice |
| 👶 Young conservative mood | Disillusioned — Iran war feels like betrayal |
| 🗳️ Gen Z men who voted Trump 2024 | 56% — now many say they feel betrayed |
| 📺 Absent prominent figures | Trump, Vance, Rubio, DeSantis, Elon Musk |
Sources: CNN Politics (CPAC Day 1 + Day 2 takeaways, March 26–27, 2026), CNN Politics (Iran war divide at CPAC, March 27), Newsweek (Republicans turn on Trump at CPAC, March 27), Alternet/The Conversation (CPAC 2026 analysis, March 27), Yahoo News (CPAC attendees confused, March 27), CBS Texas (CPAC 2026 kicks off, March 25), RedState (CPAC Day 2 Brandon Straka remarks, March 27) — all data current as of Saturday March 28, 2026.
Last updated: March 28, 2026.
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