Vice President JD Vance kicked off the 2025 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) by storm at the National Harbor, Maryland, where he doubled down on illegal immigration and free speech.
Vance had just jetted in from the European tour where he lambasted European governments for promoting illegal immigration and runaway censorship at the behest of Joe Biden.
Vance started by reiterating that the American people gave President Trump the mandate to save the country, adding that the president was keeping his team at a “pretty breakneck pace.”
“Trump knows that the American people have given us a chance to save the country, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do. And thank God for that, because the past month has been a lot of fun,”
The Thursday morning interview host Mercedes Schlapp noted that the media was overwhelmed and could not keep up with Trump’s progress. Vance took a jab at CNN by claiming that the Trump admin had issued more executive orders than the network’s viewers.
When asked, Vance doubled down on illegal immigration which he termed as the greatest threat to Western civilization.
“The greatest threat in Europe, and I’d say the greatest threat in the US until about 30 days ago, is that leaders in the West have allowed millions of unvetted foreign migrants into their countries,” he said.
“We have to secure the southern border, and thanks to his [Trump’s] action, border crossings are down well over 90%, and we’re just getting started.”
Vance also put drug traffickers on alert saying their “free ride is over because President Trump is back in the Oval Office.” He also noted that the federal government needs to hire more border patrol agents to secure the country’s border.
“We got to give Tom Homan and Stephen Miller and Christy Noem, the resources they need to secure the border.”
On the economy, Vance said America must reignite its economic growth to create good jobs and high incomes for its people.
“We have to unlock the engine of the American growth. We have to get back to having a growing economy that creates good jobs and high wages for the American people and a lot of that goes back to drill baby drill.”
He also noted that the government must account for taxpayers’ money, of which he said Elon Musk’s DOGE was helping uncover massive waste.
“Like for example… why are we spending money on Progressive modern art projects, centered around toilets in Afghanistan?”
“Let’s turn off the spigot and spend the American people’s tax money on the American people’s priority.”
Vance also talked about making Trump’s tax cuts permanent, which include ending tax on tips.
On freedom of speech, Vance received a standing ovation after mentioning his Munich speech in which he lambasted European governments for terrorizing their citizens for expressing themselves. He said that stopping illegal immigration was not enough and governments must allow people to speak about it.
“… you have to allow free speech to debate this stuff.”
“You’ve got to give the populations of the world the opportunity to speak up and say, ‘no more this BS, we want borders, we want sovereignty, we want to be able to speak our own mind in our own country.’”
“I’m not even blaming the Europeans, I’m actually saying, you followed the lead of Joe Biden into censorship and mass migration. Follow the lead of Donald J. Trump and that’s free speech, borders, and sovereignty, that’s the future for our shared civilization.”
The vice president warned that US-European relations will depend on shared values such as freedom of speech and strong borders.
Vance also addressed the Ukraine conflict by assuring the American people that President Trump was working to resolve it as quickly as possible.
“I think with President Trump, what makes him such a strong negotiator—and I’ve seen this in private—is that he doesn’t take anything off the table. Everything is on the table. And of course, that makes people in America upset because they say, ‘Why are you talking to Russia?’”
Addressing concerns that Trump was negotiating with Putin, Vance reiterated that the Ukraine War cannot end without speaking with all parties involved.
“How do you end the war if you don’t talk to Russia? You have to talk to everyone involved in the fighting.”
The Vice President also addressed abortion by advocating for policies that allow Americans to “choose life” and “start families,” adding that Americans need to “stop thinking about babies as inconveniences to be discarded.”
He also encouraged young people, especially men, to be themselves and avoid the negative culture that “wants to turn everybody, whether male or female, into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same, and act the same.”
Vance’s speech kicked off the three-day event at which President Trump, Elon Musk, GOP lawmakers, government officials, and international leaders will appear. Government officials and legislators expected to speak at the CPAC include House Speaker Mike Johnson, White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Foreign leaders expected to attend the CPAC include Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, and Argentina’s President Javier Milei. European conservative politicians such as Britain’s Nigel Farage, France’s Jordan Bardella, and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will also attend the CPAC.
Meanwhile, former British Prime Minister Liz Truss jokingly requested Trump to take his revolution to Europe and allow Musk’s DOGE team to look into “the British deep state.”
