Never Trump Republicans are still issuing dire warnings. Is anyone
listening?
[February 23, 2026]
By STEVE PEOPLES
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. (AP) — Over and over, the Republicans and former
Republicans who gathered just outside Washington this weekend warned
that President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress are tearing at
the very fabric of American democracy.
A former congressman described the president's party as an
“authoritarian-embracing cult.” A prominent conservative writer said
Trumpism is an "existential threat." And a retired Army general, his
voice shaking with emotion, cited post-Nazi Germany as a roadmap for the
nation's post-Trump recovery.
It's unclear how many people are listening.
The main convention hall at the sixth annual Principles First summit on
Saturday and Sunday was half empty. About 750 chairs were set up in a
room that could have fit thousands, and many were unfilled. Not a single
current Republican elected official participated in the two-day program.
This is what remains of the Grand Old Party’s Never Trump movement, a
coalition of Republicans, former Republicans and independents who banded
together as Trump consolidated power. They largely remain political
exiles — not quite at home among Democrats yet disgusted by how the
president has abandoned Republicans' longstanding commitments to free
trade and limited government.
John McDowell, 69, who was a lifelong Republican before Trump’s
emergence, acknowledged that the diminished group had virtually “zero”
political clout within his former party.
“It’s just a fact. We’re losing good people,” said McDowell, a former
Capitol Hill staffer and county Republican official from San Carlos,
California. “The party is becoming more and more MAGA-fied.”
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson dismissed all the criticism
from what she called “a bunch of deranged has-been politicians.”
“The only people who will pay attention to this event are the
journalists who are forced to cover it,” she said.
Virtually everyone who gathered at the hotel in National Harbor,
Maryland, said they are rooting for Democratic victories in this fall's
midterm elections. One of the only Democrats there was Conor Lamb, a
former congressman from Pennsylvania who lost his party's primary to
John Fetterman four years ago.
Despite dire concerns, there was a slight sense of optimism among the
half-empty convention hall and quiet hotel hallways.
Several people cheered last week’s Supreme Court decision to strike down
Trump’s tariffs, the economic tool he has wielded without congressional
approval in his attempt to force friends and foes around the globe to
bend to his will. Trump insisted he would implement a new round of
tariffs despite the ruling.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a former Trump adviser,
highlighted recent AP-NORC polling showing that 1 in 4 Republicans
nationwide do not approve of Trump's job performance.
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Republican presidential candidate former New Jersey Gov. Chris
Christie speaks during a gathering, June 6, 2023, in Manchester, N.H.
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
“It’s like any show that’s on TV for a long time — the ratings start
to go down. And the ratings are going down,” Christie said. “I am
willing to bet you that by next February, this room is going to be
twice the size of what it is now. After the midterms, you watch.”
Ex-MAGA diehard Rich Logis, wearing a red “I left MAGA hat,” hopes
to see “an electoral revolt against MAGA” in the midterms.
“I think there’s a shift in our country right now," he said. "It
happens slowly."
Logis was promoting support groups for friends and family of Trump
loyalists at a table outside the convention hall. Nearby, someone
was selling books about how to escape cults.
At the podium, former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh implored Trump's
critics not to downplay the seriousness of the threat the president
poses to the nation.
“He’s everything our founders feared. Say it. Believe it,” Walsh
said. He said his former party is “an authoritarian-embracing cult"
and "a threat to everything I love.”
Retired Gen. Mark Hertling, who once commanded the U.S. Army's
European forces, said he's “haunted” by allies who ask him “whether
American institutions ever can be trusted again.”
“Our nation's institutions have been shaken. Our alliances have been
strained. Our credibility has been damaged. And our nation’s values
have been cast aside,” Hertling said. He suggested the U.S. should
look to the reconstruction of Germany after the defeat of Nazism if
it hoped to to restore the damage caused by Trump and his allies.
The nation's recovery, he said as his voiced cracked, would be
something people have to earn over many years.
Bill Kristol, who worked in previous Republican administrations and
helped found the Weekly Standard magazine, described Trump and his
Republican supporters in Congress as “an existential threat” to the
nation. But he was also optimistic about the upcoming midterm
elections.
Kristol said Democrats are “almost certain to win the House,” “could
possibly win the Senate,” and have “a good chance to win the
presidency” in 2028.
Brittany Martinez, executive director of the host organization
Principles First, also tried to cast an optimistic tone, even after
describing the many reasons why she couldn't bear to continue her
career as a Republican staffer on Capitol Hill.
“I hope that Republicans continue to wake up,” she said. “I do think
that those folks exist. And I hope that they exist in greater
numbers.”
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