(Updates with Pence, adds quotes)
By Richard Cowan and Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and other top White House officials urged conservative activists on Thursday to set aside differences and unite behind President Donald Trump's agenda stressing tough trade and immigration policies.
Addressing the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, in suburban Maryland, outside Washington, Pence rallied the large group of Republicans who helped elect Trump on Nov. 8.
"My friends, this is our time. This is the chance we've worked so hard for so long to see. This is the time to prove again that our answers are the right answers for America," Pence said.
Trump was due to address CPAC on Friday.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, known as a forceful influence in the White House, made a rare public appearance to appeal for support for the Republican president.
"We want you to have our back" in upcoming battles, Bannon told the gathering, denouncing media criticism of Trump. He appeared onstage along with White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.
The early days of the new administration have been marked by deep post-election divisions between Trump backers and liberals over the president's temporary travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries, as well as moves to increase deportations of illegal immigrants and build a wall on the border with Mexico.
While conservatives celebrate Trump's role in delivering them victory in November's election, his agenda veers from traditional right-wing principles like limited government and open trade.
Republicans who control the White House and Congress are also arguing over how to dismantle and replace former Democratic President Barack Obama's landmark healthcare law.
'GLOBALIST MEDIA'
Bannon and Priebus both sought to dispel a sense of disorder in the White House portrayed in media accounts.
Referring to media criticism of Trump and echoing the president's attacks on the media, Bannon warned: "It's going to get worse every day" as Trump presses forward with his 2016 campaign promises.
"If you think they're going to give you your country back without a fight you are sadly mistaken," said Bannon, who formerly ran the confrontational right-wing website Breitbart News. He blamed the "corporatist, globalist media that are adamantly opposed to an economic nationalist agenda" under Trump.
The CPAC conference, once a fringe event but now decidedly in the Republican mainstream, is being attended by an estimated 10,000 activists.