MAGA starting to outpace a vulnerable Donald Trump
He is already beset by mounting challenges including his handling of the cost-of-living crunch, the looming US Supreme Court decision on his sweeping reciprocal tariffs and a Democratic Party that can sense it is gathering in momentum.
But, in one of the most perilous signs for Trump, it is becoming clearer each week that his own political constituency is no longer content to simply look to him for direction and is instead unshackling itself from whatever he may proclaim at a particular time.
Ruptures are appearing within the MAGA firmament and some of its most loyal acolytes are now openly diverging from Trump and even trying to steer him back on course when they believe he has lost his way.
The political acid test for the President will likely come next week as the House lurches towards a vote compelling the Justice Department to release the Epstein files after a discharge petition – sponsored by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khana – received the required 218 signatures to force the issue.
Trump sought to avoid such an outcome, but his grip over the House GOP is starting to loosen. This is especially the case on the Epstein issue on which many Republicans are concerned to be seen as supporting full transparency lest they expose themselves to claims they are protecting child sex traffickers.
Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, is moving quickly to bring on a vote and be done with it, but there is now a real chance of mass defections with speculation half the House GOP breaking with Trump to support releasing the files.
While the measure is very unlikely to go to a Senate vote, this would still represent a key moment for Trump and sound a blow against his political authority and judgment. It may also have far reaching consequences for his MAGA base and start to illuminate a new question about who is best placed to lead the movement into the future.
Earlier this week, Trump defended the H-1B visa program to import skilled foreign workers because of a dearth of local talent but again found himself butting up against the political expectations of his loyal “America First” movement – despite raising the visa fees to $US100,000 ($153,000) as an incentive for businesses to hire locally.
The President told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham that America did not have “certain talents”.
“You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say, ‘I’m going to put you into a factory where we’re going to make missiles’,” he said.
On Thursday local time (Friday AEDT), Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, of Georgia, a true believer in the “America First” philosophy, said she was “introducing a bill to END the mass replacement of American workers by aggressively phasing out the H1B program.”
“Big Tech, AI giants, hospitals, and industries across the board have abused the H-1B system to cut out our own people,” she said. “Americans are the most talented people. I serve Americans only, and I will ALWAYS put Americans first.”
The modern-day Republican Party is now dominated by MAGA populists and the question is whether they continue to loyally follow Trump as the political storm clouds gather. The fractures are already widening.
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Donald Trump is at a vulnerable moment in his presidency as the political movement he helped create and nurture is starting to outpace him.