Maryland: US President Donald Trump declared himself among friends as he began speaking Friday at an annual gathering of conservative activists and told the crowd that he would serve them well.

"Now you finally have a president, finally," Mr Trump said, shortly after taking stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. "It took you a long time."

Mr Trump became the first sitting president since Ronald Reagan to address the group during his first year in office.

"I wouldn't miss a chance to talk to my friends," he said. "These are my friends."

Mr Trump's speech followed several well-received appearances at the four-day gathering by senior members of his administration, including a speech on Thursday night by Vice-President Mike Pence.

Mr Trump used the opening of his remarks to again denounce the media, saying many stories about his administration are "fake news" with stories that rely on anonymous sources.

He pointed to a Washington Post story this month that cited nine current and former intelligence sources who said Mr Trump's former national security adviser Michael Flynn discussed US economic sanctions on Russia with that country's ambassador before Mr Trump took office.

He did not denounce the story but said he did not believe there had been nine sources.

"They make up sources. They are very dishonest people," he said. "We are fighting the fake news," Trump said. "It's fake, phony, fake."

The Post's stories helped lead to Flynn's resignation after further disclosures that he had misled administration officials, including Mr Pence, over the nature of his conversations.

Mr Trump's fledgling administration has given conservatives plenty to cheer, including many Cabinet selections and pledges to repeal the Affordable Care Act and pursue sweeping tax reform.

During his speech, he called his victory "a win for conservative values."

The speech marked the fifth time Mr Trump has addressed the conference hosted by the American Conservative Union.

His first appearance in 2011 offered clues to his political ambitions.

"America today is missing quality leadership, and foreign countries have quickly realised this," he said six years ago.

"[The] theory of a very successful person running for office is rarely tested because most successful people don't want to be scrutinised or abused. This is the kind of person that the country needs and we need it now."

On Thursday night, Mr Pence touted the Trump administration's plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, declaring "America's Obamacare nightmare is about to end."

Earlier in the day, Mr Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and Stephen Bannon, the White House chief strategist, made a joint appearance. They declared that, contrary to some press reports, they are working hand in hand toward what Mr Bannon described as an unending battle for the "deconstruction of the administrative state."

White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway was also part of the program. During a morning session on Thursday, Ms Conway, the first woman to run a successful US presidential campaign, made headlines by saying that she doesn't consider herself a feminist "in a classic sense" because the term is associated with being "anti-male" and "pro-abortion."

The Washington Post