Schmidt is a syndicated columnist and editorial board member with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
In the midst of the darkness that is our politics and ongoing threats to democracy, I found light while sitting in the Grand Ballroom of The Conrad Hotel in Washington, D.C.
There were two “conservative” conferences taking place in D.C. on the weekend of Feb. 23-25: the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and the Principles First 2024 Summit.
I had the pleasure of attending the second one. The three-day grassroots summit was focused on rebuilding principled leadership that serves our country — not partisanship or personality. The summit’s theme was “Conserving America’s Liberal Tradition.”
Listening to the variety of speakers at Principles First, I caught myself looking up at the chandelier. It had a hundred or so cylinders hanging next to each other in a large rectangle. The cylinders were of varied lengths and there were several different shades of glass. Each cylinder had a light in the center – at its core, if you will. Because each glass cylinder was hanging next to another one, their individual lights reflected on each other. This configuration produced an abundance of illumination and was absolutely beautiful.
This chandelier serves as a metaphor for Principles First. Imagine each glass cylinder as an individual and the primary light a principle or set of principles that each person in that room held dear. The reflections of light caused the entire room to glow, extending beyond each individual cylinder. One couldn’t help but be attracted to its radiance.
In 2019, founder Heath Mayo began organizing Americans on the right and center-right who were concerned about the health of American democracy. He started a series of meet-ups around the country and then envisioned bringing together those grassroots leaders from across the country to offer a positive vision for advancing principled conservatism in the United States. That movement grew into what is now known as Principles First.
Mayo describes the idea of principle as anchoring our politics to core values and ensuring that those we elect today wield power tomorrow according to some blueprint larger than themselves. “Principles define who we are, what we believe in, and the type of country we’ll become. That’s why we choose to put them first — before politicians and before party.”
The organization identifies 15 principles as a part of its commitment to holding our government and ourselves to a higher standard:
- Integrity, character and virtue matter.
- Every person has dignity, quality and worth.
- Truth, honesty, rationality and facts are non-negotiable.
- The Constitution and the rule of law are paramount.
- Our government is a limited one with enumerated powers.
- Congress writes laws, the executive executes laws and the courts interpret laws.
- Government closest to the people is most accountable.
- People reach their full potential when they are free.
- Free and functioning markets deliver prosperity.
- Equality of opportunity, not equality of outcomes.
- Government must responsibly steward resources for the next generation.
- Civic associations, faith communities and families should be the primary engines of our culture – not the state.
- Strong families are the building blocks of society.
- Sovereignty is critical to self-government.
- America's role in the world is unique and important.
The various speakers at the conference touched on one or more of those 15 principles. Each of the speakers also demonstrated that during some point in their careers or in their life, they put “principles first.”
Despite using light as a metaphor, the people in that ballroom were under no illusion that they have a home in this Republican Party. They have been exiled and are now considered RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) and are deemed globalists for supporting Ukraine or for pushing back against authoritarianism.
While this small band of scrappy idealists may be a minority within the Republican Party, they hold much power in the broader electorate. These are the voters who determine elections. And the Principles First movement is growing. The fourth summit roughly doubled in size from last year, bringing in over 600 attendees from 45 states.
The goal and hope of the summit is that individuals would leave D.C. with their lights shining a little brighter, go back home to their communities and inspire other individuals to join them, resulting in a focal point of luminescence.
Interestingly enough, the symbol for Principles First is a lighthouse. So if those 15 principles spark something in you, look towards the beacon of integrity.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.