***Live Updates*** Donald Trump Addresses CPAC 2020

NATIONAL HARBOR, MARYLAND - FEBRUARY 29: US President Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images
Joshua Caplan

President Donald Trump on Saturday is delivering a highly-anticipated speech to activists at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord Hotel overlooking the National Harbor in Maryland.

Stay tuned to Breitbart News for live updates. All times eastern.

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5:03 PM: Trump wraps up his speech with a promise to return next year and hugging the American flag. 

4:55 PM: Trump: “America is home to the toughest men and the strongest women ever to walk the face of this earth.”

4:52 PM: Trump says Democrats support “ripping babies right from the mothers’ womb right up to the moment of birth.” He is urging lawmakers to outlaw late-term abortion.

4:51 PM: Trump riffs about the need for a border wall: “Two things that will never change, a wheel and a wall… We got sued by everyone, we got sued by politicians who didn’t know they were politicians.”

4:49 PM: Trump on winning back the House from the Democrats: “We’re gonna take back the House from these lunatics. We have to take back the House.”

4:47 PM: Trump reiterates call for “prompt deportation” for illegal aliens and touts ending “Catch and Release.”

“Everyone here today and patriotic citizens all across our land agree with a fundamental truth that our country must be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans — not criminal aliens,” the president adds. 

“Build the wall” chants break out.  

“We’re up to almost 130 miles of wall, think of that,” he responds. 

4:44 PM:

4:34 PM: Trump mocks comedian Bill Maher and others who believe the president won’t ever leave the White House: “They actually think I’m not leaving. This crazy Bill Maher.”

4:31 PM: Trump polls attendees based on cheers about which Democrat they would like to see him run against. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) receives the loudest cheers. 

4:30 PM: Trump now polling crowd about running against Biden: “Everyone knows he’s not a communist. With Bernie, there’s a bigger doubt about that… He’s going to be sitting in a home somewhere. He’s not going to be running the government.” 

4:26 PM: Trump polls the crowd on whether former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg could beat him in a general election contest: “Boot-edge-edge. I don’t see it. When I look at it I see Alfred E. Neuman.”

4:25 PM: Trump wonders how Biden could win the South Carolina primary: “He’s going to have a pretty big win today I think, based on the polls. How the hell does he have a big win?”

4:21 PM: Trump mocks former Vice President Joe Biden for mixing up which state he’s in and says not even Winston Churchill could recover from such gaffes. He also hits Biden for falsely claiming over 150 million have died from gun violence in recent years. 

4:18 PM: Trump touts how the U.S. is now the number one energy producer in the world. “You had a lot of really nice people running our country over the years. Perhaps I’m not nice, but I’m doing a great job for you,” he adds. 

4:16 PM: Trump mocks former Rep. Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke’s (D-TX) failed White Houe bid: “He was ‘born to run… He was against God, guns, and oil in Texas. Abraham Lincoln couldn’t run on that and win Texas… Come on back, Beto!”

4:13 PM: Trump says it’s “sort of a miracle” that he’s accomplished so much despite how much his administration has faced. “Maybe it’s right there, right?… Thank you, God,” he adds. 

4:11 PM: Trump mocks Deep Staters’ testimony before lawmakers on Capitol Hill: “How’s James Comey doing? How’s Bob Mueller doing? That was a great performance in Congress. ‘Raise your right hand.’ ‘What?'”

4:08 PM: Trump slams the Democrats’ leftward lurch: “They want to take away your money, take away your choice, take away your speech, take away your guns, take away your religion, take away your history, take away your future and ultimately take away your freedom. But we will never let them do that.”

4:06 PM: The crowd went crazy for this — perhaps a staple at future Trump speeches? 

4:03 PM:  Trump mocks former New York City Mayor and Democrat presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg’s abysmal debate performances: “It just shows you that you can’t buy an election. I mean, there’s a point at which people say, you gotta bring the goods a little bit too.” He adds that Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) “destroyed him.”

4:03 PM: Trump touts his economic accomplishments: “America is stronger today than ever before. We have rebuilt our incredible U.S. military, revived our industrial might and restored our standing in the world. America is respected again – respected like never before.”

4:01 PM: Trump rips Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for his eagerness to criticize the U.S.’s response to the coronavirus, saying “Crying Chuck Schumer, he sees the mic, he’ll run 200 yards to get to a mic.”

4:00 PM: Trump continues on his administration’s response to the coronavirus: “We’ve done a great a job, everything’s under control.”

3:57 PM: Trump speaks about his administration’s response to the coronavirus: “My job is to protect Americans, and to protect Americans’ health… We’re banning travel for anyone who has been to Iran in the last 14 days.”

“All they have to do is ask. We will have great professionals over there,” he added. 

3:54 PM: Trump slams the corporate media, says “It would be so much easier for us as a country if the press told the truth.”

3:53 PM: Trump on the U.S., Taliban signing an agreement aimed at bringing peace to Afghanistan: “If the Taliban live up to the agreement, it means the longest war in American history by far – it’s not even close – will be over… I’ll say this for the Taliban: they’re great fighters. All you have to do is ask the Soviet Union. But they’re tired.”

3:47 PM: Trump talks about ordering the killing of ISIS chief Abu Al-Baghdadi, saying “There’s no dog like Conan” — the K9 who played a key role in the operation against the longtime terrorist.

3:44 PM: Trump says he asked the U.S. military to change the color used to label ISIS territory on maps from red to another color because red if the color of the Republican Party. 

3:43 PM: Trump recalls a story about a U.S. soldier who lost both legs due to a roadside bomb and touts the deadly strike on Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani, calling him a “son of a bitch.” The crowd cheers loudly. 

3:37 PM: Trump slams Sen. Mitt Romney as a “lowlife” for voting to convict him in the Senate’s impeachment trial. The crowd boos at the mention of Romney. The president says he did not realize how “deep” the Swamp is and reiterates his pledge to get rid of “dirty” Deep Staters. 

3:36 PM: Trump recounts how Schlapp suggested that he run for president following a previous CPAC speech. “I guess I’m slightly more famous now,” the president jokes. 

3:35 PM: Trump says the Make America Great Again movement is something like “honestly nobody has ever seen” and jokes some of his Democrat presidential rivals speak to two people on a “street corner.”

3:33 PM: CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp is introducing President Trump. “Socialism is more tragic than a Jimmy Kimmel monologue,” Schlapp jokes in reference to this year’s theme, “America vs. Socialism.”

3:12 PM: Ahead of Trump’s speech, administration officials briefed attendees on the latest coronavirus updates:

3:04 PM: President Trump is departing the White House for CPAC after holding a press briefing on his administration’s ongoing response to the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.

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