GRAPEVINE, Texas — The 2026 Conservative Political Action Conference kicked off Wednesday afternoon with the International Faith Summit at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Conference Center in Grapevine.
The annual gathering, running March 25–28, brings together influential Republican leaders, activists and faith figures amid a challenging political landscape for President Donald Trump, including divisions on the right over the U.S.-involved war in Iran that he launched.
While Trump — who was not expected to address the conference this year — retains broad support among conservatives, the conflict has tested some supporters of his “America First” pledge to avoid foreign entanglements. A new Associated Press-NORC poll shows about 59% of Americans believe the military action in Iran has been excessive.
During the opening International Faith Summit, a panel of more than a dozen speakers addressed spiritual renewal, religious liberty and global Christian persecution. The discussion was led by moderator and CPAC senior fellow Mercedes Schlapp.
Pastor Ché Ahn, senior pastor of Harvest Rock Church and Harvest International Ministry and a notable figure in the New Apostolic Reformation movement, responded to a question about key issues for California voters by framing problems in spiritual terms linked to Isaiah 9:6.
“The last time I checked, we’re the body of Christ,” said Ahn. “The government’s on our shoulder. He’s the head. We’re the body, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, of his government and of His peace will have no end. … So at the end of the day, we win, but until then, we have to see revival and reclamation take place in California. That is the province of California and our nation.”
Ahn, who is running as a Republican for California governor in 2026, then recounted his church’s legal battle during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns in California and warned about the state’s political future.
“I began to realize that we have come to a one-party communist Marxist atheistic state called California, and we have to break that ideology,” he said. “It’s not flesh and blood, but against principalities.”
Schlapp added, “We’re not going to allow that to happen again.”
Victor Marx, founder of All Things Possible Ministries in Colorado, paid tribute to the late Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative activist organization Turning Point USA, who was assassinated at Utah Valley University in September. Marx said Kirk was a “great example of living your faith out regardless of the fear and the consequences.”
“That’s what’s ignited, I’d say, a whole generation of young people and hopefully a bunch of oldsters who are going, ‘Who cares? Let’s just live for God, do what he says regardless of what anybody says, because we’re gonna be obedient to God even unto death,” he added.
Schlapp, who noted Kirk’s first national speech was at CPAC in 2021, said the conservative activist’s legacy continues to inform CPAC’s agenda.
“His spirit is with us. We pray for his family, for Erica, the children, and for the great work that Turning Point is doing,” she said. “We miss Charlie. We miss Charlie, but his legacy lives on, and we obviously are inspired to keep doing the work of reaching out, continuing to reach out and building community that’s so critical.”
CPAC is scheduled to run through Saturday with featured appearances from figures including Franklin Graham, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz.
