(CNN) – Business and reality show star Donald Trump will speak at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference, according to press release from the event's organizer that was distributed by Trump's spokesman Tuesday.
In the release, the American Conservative Union's president Al Cardenas called Trump "an American patriot and success story with a massive following among small government conservatives."
"I look forward to welcoming him back to the CPAC stage next week. Mr. Trump's previous CPAC appearance was hugely popular among our attendees and we expect it will be even more popular this year," Cardenas wrote.
Trump last spoke at CPAC in 2011, when he was publically flirting with a bid for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. He eventually said he wouldn't seek the nomination since it would mean giving up his reality show "The Apprentice."
That didn't stop Trump from playing a vocal role in the presidential contest, coming out in support of eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney at an event in Las Vegas. He also helped fundraise for Romney.
Trump also revived his "birther" criticism of President Barack Obama last spring, dismissing the birth certificate released by the White House in 2011 showing Obama was born in Hawaii as fraudulent. Contemporaneously published newspaper announcements also noted the birth in the Aloha State.
During his speech at the event two years ago, Trump criticized Ron Paul as unelectable, eliciting boos from supporters of the then-Texas congressman.
CPAC is considered a key speaking engagement for any Republican thinking about running for president in 2016. Politicians who are thought to be considering presidential bids and are on the CPAC speaking list include Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
Also on the roster are Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, who was a 2012 Republican presidential candidate; former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush; and Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin.
Mitt Romney, the GOP's 2012 presidential nominee, will also speak at the conference.
But there has also been a notable omission from the speaking list: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. A person close to CPAC said last month Christie wasn't invited to speak at the conservative conference.
CNN's Steve Brusk and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
@freedom wrote
“Obama's failed leadership in the sequester will now allow people to carry knives on planes. “
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And herein resides the problem… Conservatives/Tea Partiers constantly complain that they want smaller government and then are the first to complain when that smaller government negatively impacts them. I also find it interesting that you place all the blame on the president’s shoulders. It leads me to believe that you have no concept of the roll of the congress.
This is truly the political leadership America deserves....................Rock On
OK, Dems, time to not slack off. Keep active, keep writing to your Senators and Reps and local officials, get and stayed involved and, most important, vote in 2014 for Progressive candidates. Heck, I'd settle for you voting for SANE candidates – that pretty much knocks all the Repubs off your ballot!
One form of gun control the GOP should really look into is their tendency to constantly shoot themselves in the foot. They really need to distance themselves from Trump.
So the wacky right is sticking with the same old line up. Are they still going to blame the "liberal" media when they get stomped again?
an American patriot and success story ...
Filed for bankrupty 4 times.
Still waiting for the big find you made regarding that birth certificate.
And while i am at it, shoot that thing mauling his head.
regardless of how much money he has squeezed out ...the man is an flipping orangutan.
I would like to apologize to orangutans for that comment.
The 'Don' is as qualified as a politician as I am to be Pope (married with three kids). Regardless, it's so entertaining to see and hear him act as if he's a force to recon with.
The list that they have running for Pres. in 2016 is worse than the last election. They have to do better than this. It will be a run away election for the Dems.
Time to reload the clown car.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Conservatives not heeding Jindal's "stop being stupid" comment...
Personally, I love how the GOP says it needs to change, enlarge its tent, become more inclusive and that other schtick while courting the same group of jesters that lost it the last two Presidential elections. Do not worry – the GOP clown car is a Hummer stretched limousine with plenty of room for all of those, and more! I hope they even manage to con Mitt into running again. After all, he only lost by less than 5 million popular votes and 126 Electoral College votes. He COULD possibly do better the next time (if there are no superstorm hurricanes to interfere.)
I can see it now – a Trump/Romney ticket! That would be a one way ticket to the looney farm, but then too, CPAC IS the looney farm, so they would not have far to go!
Who cares what nitwit Trump has to say.
Trump: CLOWN
/end discussion
@anagram_kid
The duty of the Commander-in-Chief first and foremost is to protect the citizens of this nation. That includes keeping potential crazy people from boarding planes with knives. We don't need the government, however, in our kitchens, bedrooms, schools, and businesses. Republicans are not opposed to the role of government to protect it's citizens. The president is truly to blame on this, because he has the authority to cut spending in any area – and we all know there is plenty of wasteful spending in this government – but he chose safety on airplanes and closing the White House doors. This was his act – noone elses. Why are you defending someone who is putting you in harm's way?
freedom wrote:
...Republicans are not opposed to the role of government to protect it's citizens. The president is truly to blame on this, because he has the authority to cut spending in any area – and we all know there is plenty of wasteful spending in this government – but he chose safety on airplanes and closing the White House doors. This was his act – noone elses. Why are you defending someone who is putting you in harm's way?
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A swing and a miss. Read the Constitution sometime. The POTUS does not have the authority to determine where money is spent as you suggest. It is the House of Representatives that defines spending bills, and how much is spent where. The rules were relaxed becaue of public outcry. Things such as fingernail files were prohibited.
Almighty Zarquon... Did not the 2012 election teach the GOP anything at all?
You can't expect to have a good circus show without your number one clown. Of course he will be there!
Shows how clueless the cons are....getting this bloviating windbag to talk.....
Who cares. He's about as non-relevant as you can get.
@Rudy NYC
The House of Representatives gave the president leeway to make these decision during this sequester – he didn't take the leeway – he turned it down. Why would a president do that? And then why would he relax TSA regulations of all things, and not allow the people of this country to visit the White House? Because he is narcissistic and didn't like losing the battle. and want to blame others – he's putting his hubris above the people of this country. He is abusing his power – and that leads to impeachment.
This is just getting sad now.
What does it say about a PAC's character that one of its headliners is a birther conspiracy theorist as well as a megalomaniacal reality TV star? You keep using this word "conservative, I don't think it means what you think it means (apologies to William Goldman).
@freedom wote, ‘…but he [the president] chose safety on airplanes.”
Actually he did no such thing. The very nature of the sequester was that the spending cuts were across the board. Time to change your name to ‘freedom from facts.