Donald Trump to speak at CPAC

The Conservative Political Action Committee is inviting real estate mogul and reality television host Donald Trump to appear at its conference next week in Washington.

“Donald Trump is an American patriot and success story with a massive following among small government conservatives,” said ACU Chairman Al Cardenas in a statement. “I look forward to welcoming him back to the CPAC stage next week. Mr. Trump’s previous CPAC appearance was hugely popular among our attendees and we expect it will be even more popular this year.”

The announcement comes amid a swirl of controversy surrounding the event, after the ACU did not extend invitations to some top Republican politicians, including Govs. Chris Christie (N.J.) and Bob McDonnell (Va.). The organization also opted against extending an invitation to GOProud, a top gay conservative group, with Cardenas saying the group had demonstrated a lack of "civility" at past events.

Ironically, it was GOProud that invited Trump to attend the conference in 2011, in a last-minute addition to the conference. Trump's appearance caused some controversy when he declared that former Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) had "zero chance" of becoming president.

Trump will join former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney — who he vocally backed in last year's election — and a number of other Republican stars at the event. The speaking list includes Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.). Former lawmakers like Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) will also speak at the conference.

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