Washington (CNN) - Donald Trump will speak Thursday at a major annual gathering of conservative activists that also doubles as the first major cattle call for probable contenders for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
Trump will address the crowd at the Conservative Action Political Conference in the nation's capital, a representative from CPAC confirmed to CNN Thursday morning.
David Keene, CPAC's chief organizer, told CNN Trump's people reached out to organizers some time ago about a potential speech. CPAC organizers said yes, and earlier this week Trump confirmed he had time to speak at the event.
"We are happy he is going to be with us," Keene said.
Trump has been saying publicly for quite some time that he's considering a bid for the Republican nomination. He told CNN's Chief National Correspondent John King in January that he was "seriously considering" the possibility. And Wednesday night, in an appearance on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, Trump repeated that, "I am seriously thinking about it. I won't make a decision till June, but I will make a decision and it may surprise people frankly."
"I love this country. I hate what's happened to this country. We're a laughingstock throughout the world. We're not respected," Trump added.
Trump's last minute addition brings to ten the number of potential GOP White House hopefuls who will speak to conservative activists at CPAC. The three-day conference ends Saturday with the results of a presidential straw poll.
Source : http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/10/trump-to-speak-at-cpac/