OXON HILL, Md. — White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon appeared onstage together Thursday to jointly insist that everything is running smoothly in the nascent Trump administration — including their relationship, which has been the subject of much speculation.

Despite several weeks of often-rough headlines for the administration and rampant chatter about tensions between Bannon and Priebus, the two men sought to project unity during an appearance together here at the Conservative Political Action Conference, held at a cavernous hotel and conference center right outside Washington, D.C.

“In regard to us two, the biggest misconception is everything you’re reading,” Priebus said. “We share an office suite together, we’re basically together from 6:30 in the morning until about 11:00 at night.”

And during their 25-minute panel, they often found common ground in their open distaste for the media — though they differed over the extent of their mistrust of the press.

“Not only is it not going to get better, it’s going to get worse every day,” Bannon said of the media’s treatment of Trump. “They’re corporatist, globalist media. They’re adamantly opposed to the economic nationalist agenda President Trump has.”

The crowd cheered Bannon’s assessment.

“Every day is going to be a fight,” he said.

The pair had been asked by American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp what the press was missing about the Trump phenomenon, and whether in their view, there was hope for improvement.

Priebus — whose own RNC was privately pessimistic about Trump’s chances days before the election — said he believed the press coverage might get better.

“I think there’s hope it’s going to change,” Priebus said. “We sit here every day, the president pumps out all this work, executive orders … we’re hoping the media will catch up eventually.”

After hearing out Priebus, Bannon remarked, “the reason Reince and I are good partners is because we can disagree.”

Their joint appearance was a marquee event of the first day of CPAC, an annual event that attracts conservative activists and lawmakers from across the country.

Past events have had a strongly libertarian flavor, but this year — the first in more than eight years that a Republican has held the White House — is highly reflective of the new administration, and the gathering was flooded with White House officials.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos spoke before Bannon and Priebus took the stage, and Vice President Mike Pence was slated to speak Thursday night. Trump is expected to address the event Friday, and Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s campaign manager turned counselor to the president, kicked off the conference as its first major headliner.

Asked how Trump had affected the conservative movement, Conway joked that the gathering might soon be renamed “TPAC” — for Trump.

That’s a chilling idea to some longtime conservative activists, who say that Trump’s ideas — populist economic policy and an often more inward-looking approach to foreign policy — fall well outside mainstream conservative views that have animated the Republican Party for decades.

The audience was staunchly pro-Trump, but during the Priebus-Bannon panel, Schlapp nodded to the tensions between Trumpism and traditional conservatism, which have been roiling Republican circles outside the walls of CPAC. A debate over whether CPAC should have invited right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos escalated the internecine drama coming into the gathering, even though the organization ultimately pulled the invitation.

“Can this Trump movement be combined with what’s been happening at CPAC and other conservative movements for 50 years?” Schlapp asked. “Can this be brought together?”

Priebus said Trump and former President Ronald Reagan did share core values on issues like building up the military and pursuing deregulation. But Bannon was more open about acknowledging the different strains of thought that animate Trump’s movement.

“Whether you’re a populist or you’re a limited government conservative, whether you’re a libertarian or you’re an economic nationalist, we have wide, sometimes divergent views,” he said. “But at the center core of what we believe, that we’re a nation with an economy not an economy just in some global marketplace with open markets, but we’re a nation with a culture and reason for being and I think that’s what unites us, and what’s going to unite this movement going forward.”

Bannon is the former chairman of Breitbart News, a hard-right website that Bannon himself once described as the “platform for the alt-right,” a white nationalist movement — the same place Yiannopoulos worked until this week.

Meanwhile, Priebus is the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. The two come from vastly different backgrounds and perspectives on the way Washington works, leading both supporters and detractors of President Donald Trump to fret over the extent to which rival power centers have emerged in the White House.

But the pair took pains to demonstrate affection for each other Thursday, with Priebus lightly poking fun at Bannon’s outfit — khakis and a collared shirt, in stark contrast to Priebus’s suit and tie — and Bannon interjecting with anecdotes about how closely the pair works together.

As the speaking engagement wound down, Schlapp got the two men back on their original track: expressing their fondness for each other.

“You guys have been so kumbaya here,” he said. “It’s time for a group hug.”

He prompted the two officials to list what they liked most about each other.

“I love how many collars he wears, interesting look,” Priebus joked, gesturing at Bannon’s blazer. “We’re different, but what’s very similar is, I think he’s very dogged in making sure that every day, the promises President Trump has made are promises we’re working on every day.”

He added that Bannnon is also “incredibly loyal” and “extremely consistent,” as well as a “very dear friend, and someone I work with every second of the day. I cherish his friendship.”

Bannon was direct: “I can run a little hot on occasions, and Reince is indefatigable,” he said, praising him as a steady hand in a tough job. Bannon went on to add, “Reince has been unwavering.”