NatCon Day 3: The Future of the West?

Members of The Review were lucky enough to be invited to attend the 2025 National Conservatism Conference, or NatCon, in Washington D.C.

We heard from speakers within the Trump Administration, prominent intellectuals, and popular journalists. This is what happened on Day 3:

First, we heard from the opening speakers:

• Sen. Jim Banks (Senator of Indiana)

  • Senator Banks talked about the necessity of conserving the American Dream, and what that means to the National Conservatism movement.

• Jack Posobiec (Senior Editor of Human Events)

  • Posobiec spoke on the meaning of America First in foreign policy.

• Doug Wilson (Pastor at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho)

  • Wilson invoked American History and how it intersected with Christianity, urging that we bring that religious morality back into governing.

• Dir. Kelly Loeffler (Administrator of the Small Business Administration)

  • Director Loeffler spoke on the successes the Trump Administration has had thus far concerning small businesses, making clear that the economy is breaking records.

• Sen. Josh Hawley (Senator of Missouri)

  • Hawley gave a speech about the rise of transhumanism and how the national conservatism movement needs to rise against it and the tech barons that want to make it policy.

We then broke into 3 panels:

• “National Security and Tech”

  • Ben Weingarten (Chair)

    • Will Thibeau

    • Rob Greenway

    • Jeffery Nadaner

• “American Industrial Policy”

  • Ellen Fantini (Chair)

    • Michael Lind

    • Mark Diplacido

    • Theo Wold

    • George Bogden

• “The Counter-Revolution in Higher Education”

  • Steven Skultety (Chair)

    • Carolos Carvalho

    • Ben Merkle

    • Dorian Abbot

    • Aaron Zubia

We attended “American Industrial Policy”, where minds like George Bogden spoke on the importance of creating an economic “Monroe Doctrine” to remove adverse foreign influences. Other panelists called for the reindustrialization of American industry, the inflow of foreign capital, and the creation of a “value-added economy.”

We then broke into another session of panels. Here, we had the option to attend:

• “Energy Security”

  • Diana Furchtgott-Roth (Chair)

    • Alex Cranberg

    • Rupert Darwall

    • Amb. Carla Sands

    • Francois Baird

• “Tech and the Future of the Family”

  • Terry Schilling (Chair)

    • Tim Estes

    • Clare Morell

    • Michael Toscano

    • Dean Ball

• “Publishing and the New Right”

  • Andrew Beck (Chair)

    • Matt Peterson

    • Robert Bluey

    • Dominic Green

    • Titus Techera

We attended the “Energy Security” Panel, hearing speakers like Amb. Carla Sands discuss the importance of investing in American energy and becoming energy independent from the foreign resources of China and other markets.

Then we were thrown back into a Plenary Session, hearing from:

• Steve Bannon (Former White House Chief Strategist, Founder of War Room)

  • Bannon spoke about the current state of foreign policy within the Trump Administration. He focused on the threat of China, urging the Trump administration to detach from the Middle East and Ukraine.

• Gene Hamilton (Served in DOJ during first Trump Administration)

  • Hamilton called on America to fight against “Islamism” through a national preservation policy agenda.

• Patrick Deneen (Professor at Notre Dame)

  • Deneen spoke on how theology intersects with the task Conservatism has today to bring back traditional values.

Finally, we attended a VIP conference dinner, where we heard from:

• Sebastian Gorka (Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism)

  • Gorka spoke about his experiences working with President Trump as a decisive force against Islamic terrorists, and his role in counter terrorism operations.

The final day of NatCon did a lot to synthesize the different ideas that made up the conference. It was a day focused on the future of American policy, from protecting against Chinese influence to deprioritizing the Middle East, to even protecting against new ideas like transhumanism.

The national conservative movement is set to change radically over the next few years, and these changes will have monumental implications for Americans across the country.

Disclaimer: All takeaways were gathered from on-the-record speeches made by the conference’s speakers.

About the Author

Luca Desanto is the Lead Campus Reporter for The Michigan Review. He is an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, an analyst at Ascent Consulting Group, and the Business Officer of Michigan Men's Rugby.