Former US President Donald Trump returns to Washington on Tuesday for the first time since leaving office, delivering a speech hours after former Vice President Mike Pence, a potential 2024 challenger, called on the Republican Party to stop looking to the back. Trump’s appearance in the nation’s capital — his first trip back since Jan. 20, 2021, when President Joe Biden was sworn into office despite Trump’s frantic efforts to stay in office — comes as some considering White House runs are increasingly willing to challenge him directly. They include Pence, who on Tuesday outlined his “Freedom Agenda” not far from where Trump was scheduled to speak before an allied think tank that has created an agenda for a possible second Trump term. While the former president remains reeling from an election he falsely claims was stolen from him a year and a half ago, Pence again implored the party to look to the future as it considers its own. “Some people may choose to focus on the past, but the election is about the future,” Pence said in a speech to the Young America’s Foundation, a student conservative group. “I think conservatives need to focus on the future to win America back. We cannot afford to take our eyes off the road ahead because what is at stake is the very survival of our way of life.” The former White House partners made dueling appearances again after campaigning for rival candidates in Arizona on Friday. Their separate speeches come amid news that Pence’s former chief of staff, Mark Short, testified before a federal grand jury investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Short was on Capitol Hill that day as Pence fled an angry mob of rioters who called for his hanging after Trump wrongly insisted that Pence had the power to overturn the election results. Pence has repeatedly defended his actions that day, even as his decision to stand up to his boss turned large parts of Trump’s loyal base against him. Polls show Trump remains, by far, the top choice of GOP primary voters, with Pence trailing far behind. That contrast emerged Tuesday as Trump prepared to address an audience of hundreds gathered for the America First Policy Institute’s two-day America First Agenda Summit. Comprised of former Trump administration officials and allies, the group is widely seen as an “administration-in-waiting” that could quickly move into the West Wing if Trump runs again and wins. The event had the feel of a Trump White House reunion — but without Pence. Pence, meanwhile, received a friendly – but not enthusiastic – reception from the students, who fought to invade the “USA!” chant. In his remarks, he repeatedly touted the “Trump-Pence government.” But the first question he received was about his growing estrangement from Trump, which is especially acute given the years he spent as the former president’s most loyal aide. Pence denied that the two “differ on issues,” but acknowledged, “we may differ on focus. I truly believe that the election is about the future and that it is absolutely necessary, at a time when so many Americans are hurting and so many families are struggling, that we are not tempted to look back.” Also Tuesday, Simon & Schuster announced the title of Pence’s upcoming book, “So Help Me God,” which will be released in November. The publisher said the book is “the strongest defense of Trump’s record by anyone who has served in the administration,” but also “chronicles President Trump’s termination of their relationship on Jan. 6, 2021, when Pence kept his oath to the Constitution ». Trump’s allies have urged him to spend more time talking about his vision for the future and less time redefining the 2020 election as he prepares to announce his expected 2024 White House campaign. He has spent much of his time since leaving office spreading lies about his loss to cast doubt on Biden’s victory. Indeed, even as a Jan. 6 House committee exposed his efforts to stay in office and his refusal to withdraw a violent mob of his supporters as they tried to stop a peaceful transition of power, Trump continued to try to push officials to overturn Biden’s victory, despite the fact that there is no legal means to validate it. In his speech on Tuesday, Trump planned to focus on public safety, said his spokesman, Taylor Budowitz. Rep. Tommy Tamperville of Alabama said he would be among several GOP senators planning to attend Trump’s speech. “You’re going to hear the same thing you hear in all the other speeches,” Tuberville told reporters on Capitol Hill. “But, you know, go down there and listen, as many of us would.” Beyond the summit, staff at the America First Policy Institute have laid their own groundwork for the future, “making sure we have the policies, personnel and process in place for every core agency when we take back the White House,” he said. Brooke Rollins, its president. The group is one of several Trump-allied organizations that have continued to push his policies in his absence, including America First Legal, dedicated to fighting Biden’s agenda through the court system, the Center for American Renewal and the Conservative Institute Cooperation. —— AP writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report
