President Donald Trump heaped criticism on what he called purveyors of "fake news" on Friday at a gathering of conservative activists that took him back to his roots as an anti-establishment candidate.
Speaking to a large group of conservatives who packed into a hotel ballroom outside Washington, Trump sought to clarify a recent tweet in which he said some in the US news media should be considered an "enemy of the people."
"I'm against the people that make up stories and make up sources. They shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name. Let their name be out there," Trump said. "Let there be no more sources."
The speech allowed Trump to put his stamp firmly on the political movement even as some activists fret that his immigration and trade policies go too far.
Trump addressed the third day of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, which has focused on how to fulfill long-held Republican goals to revamp the US tax code, repeal federal regulations on industry and repeal former Democratic President Barack Obama's healthcare law.
With Trump in the White House and Republicans holding majorities in Congress, CPAC and the thousands of conservative activists who flock to the event each year from across the country are seeing their political influence rising.
In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, Trump talked about imposing some form of a border tax to encourage more US manufacturing, called the Chinese "grand champions" of currency manipulation that hurts US exports and talked of expanding the US nuclear arsenal.
Several CPAC attendees voiced concerns about some of Trump's actions during his first month in office, and worried he might take the US economy in the wrong direction in months ahead.
'Right direction'
David Burke of Dover, Delaware, who said he spent 30 years in the US Air Force, wanted to hear Trump talk on Friday about all the issues he promoted during the presidential campaign.
"I think most everything he's been saying is going to put the country in the right direction," Burke said, adding he approved of Trump's immigration policies and his emphasis on keeping businesses in the United States.
During his run for the White House, Trump promised to rip up trade deals he said treated US companies and workers unfairly. He has already announced the United States will drop out of a vast Pacific Rim trade deal and renegotiate the decades-old North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico.
In place of multilateral trade arrangements, Trump has promised to negotiate stronger bilateral trade pacts and impose tougher sanctions on countries deemed to be trading unfairly.
That troubles Tyler Wadsworth of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who turned 18 after last November's election, too late to vote.
"I am not a big fan of (trade) tariffs. I feel like it's a tax on people. I really want to hear what he has to say about that," Wadsworth said.
For Eric Golub, who described himself as a politically conservative Jewish comedian from Los Angeles, Trump must concentrate on making sure Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.
"This (CPAC) is fun. This is Disneyland for conservatives," he said. "I want him (Trump) to give the speech, go back to Washington and let's get back to work."
