Conservatives Of Color Have Lofty Expectations For Trump's Second Term

Delivering his first address as a reinaugurated president, Donald Trump spoke directly to communities that had historically shunned his party.

"To the Black and Hispanic communities, I want to thank you for the tremendous outpouring of love and trust that you have shown me with your vote," Trump said. "We set records, and I will not forget it. I've heard your voices in the campaign, and I look forward to working with you in the years to come."

Trump, whose inauguration coincided with the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday , promised to 'strive together to make his dream a reality." It's a vow that many prominent Black and Hispanic civil rights leaders view skeptically . But among the conservatives of color who surround Trump, the moment was an endorsement of their biggest hopes, years in the making.

"This room was impossible twenty years ago," Rep. Byron Donalds , R-Fla., said Sunday evening during the "Legacy of Freedom Ball," a gala of a few hundred mostly Black conservatives who gathered to ring in the new administration. "But in 2024 not only are we back, but we're bringing Black people and Hispanic people into the Republican Party," Donalds told the crowd.

Trump's comments alluded to the record margins he garnered among heavily Black and Hispanic regions of the country compared to past Republican presidential candidates. At galas preceding Trump's inauguration, conservative Black and Hispanic activists and lawmakers toasted to a new era in which many of them hope to play a larger role than in Trump's first term.