1 big thing: MAGA's fight for "Western civilization"

Axios

12-05-2025

💐 Happy Mother's Day! It's a perfect day to call your mom, a mom in your life, or anyone who's shaped you.
The MAGA movement is no longer just fighting for President Trump. His most fervent loyalists are now engaged in what they see as a battle for " Western civilization" — a rallying cry for the modern right, reports Tal Axelrod, Axios' expert on MAGA media.
Why it matters: The conservative ecosystem that has developed around Trump — and is touted daily in MAGA media — is key to understanding what's behind many of his policies.
🏛️ The big picture: For MAGA loyalists taking this long view, "Preserving Western Civilization" is the new "Make America Great Again."
They proclaim America as a Judeo-Christian country that's the successor to the great European civilizations of Greece, Rome and the United Kingdom. They see a modern " Western civilization" as one that prizes freedom, the rule of law as they interpret it, meritocracy and the nuclear family.
It's a movement wrapped in nostalgia. That's why Trump's Make America Great Again slogan resonated: To many in the modern right, society was at its zenith in the 1950s — and the liberalism of the 1960s and '70s drove the decline of their ideal society.
📜 Zoom in: The guideposts of the Western civilization movement run through MAGA media in ways large and small.
Podcasters Steve Bannon and Jack Posobiec recite dates on their shows with "the year of our Lord" and "Anno Domini."
Social media posts lament the growing South Asian population in the United Kingdom.
The growing pro-natalism movement encourages conservatives to have large families. Articles in far-right media tout marriage and children, and even advice for women on ways to be more "marriageable."
In recent years, conservative activists have blasted college English departments for adding courses that focus on racially diverse writers, instead of staying focused on Shakespeare and Chaucer.
The movement sees today's DEI initiatives, expanded LGBTQ rights, fluid gender roles and illegal immigration as signs of a society run amok.
Preserving Western values was a theme of Vice President Vance's major speech in Munich in February, when he decried censorship and mass immigration.
Zoom out: Critics say the Western civilization movement looks regressive and racist.
Trump policy attacks on asylum-seeking immigrants, and programs benefiting historically marginalized communities, help reinforce that image.
The period of U.S. history the movement heralds included subjugation of women, segregation, and discrimination against nonwhites, those in the LGBTQ community and many others.
2. ✈️ Breaking: Trump's "flying palace"
The Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar's royal family, ABC's Jonathan Karl and Katherine Faulders scoop.
The jet is intended for President Trump's use as Air Force One. When he leaves office, ownership is to be transferred over to the Trump presidential library foundation, Karl and Faulders note of the gift's proposed terms.
💰 Why it matters: It "may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government" and will raise questions.
"Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump's top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be 'legally permissible' for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump's presidential library before the end of his term," ABC reports.
What's next: The gift is expected to be announced when Trump visits Qatar next week.
3. 🤖 Leo warns on AI
"I too address the world's great powers by repeating the ever-present call 'never again war,'" Pope Leo XIV said from the Vatican balcony during his first Sunday address as pontiff today.
"I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people. Let everything possible be done to achieve an authentic, just and lasting peace as soon as possible. ... I am deeply saddened by what is happening in the Gaza Strip. Cease fire immediately! Let humanitarian aid be provided to the exhausted civilian population and let all hostages be freed."
Yesterday, the new pope laid out the vision of his papacy during his first formal audience, with the cardinals who elected him, AP reports.
Leo called out AI as one of the most critical matters facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor.
He also repeatedly cited his predecessor Francis' mission, committing to making the Catholic Church more inclusive and one that looks out for the "least and rejected."
Meanwhile, stateside, Chicagoans are soaking up the election of their homegrown pope.
The Chicago White Sox honored Pope Leo XIV on the scoreboard before a home game against the Miami Marlins on Friday.
4. 🤰 When women become moms
First-time U.S. mothers were an average of 27.5 years old in 2023, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick reports from CDC data.
Why it matters: That's up from 21.4 in 1970 — a notable shift over the decades, reflecting major societal changes in women's priorities, expectations, access to birth control and fertility treatments and more.
Zoom in: D.C. (30.8), Massachusetts (30) and New Jersey (29.4) had the highest average ages for first-time mothers in 2023.
5. 🩸 Elizabeth Holmes' partner gets into ... blood testing
Elizabeth Holmes is serving time for defrauding investors through her blood-testing startup, Theranos. At the same time, her partner is launching a new testing company called Haemanthus, a flower known as the blood lily.
"Billy Evans, who has two children with Ms. Holmes, is trying to raise money for a company that describes itself as "'the future of diagnostics' and 'a radically new approach to health testing,'" The New York Times reports from a review of marketing materials (gift link).
The big picture: Theranos also set out to revolutionize diagnostics — but made false claims about the capabilities of its flagship product.
6. 🚨 Student debt cliff
The clock started ticking on a financial time bomb this week for student loan borrowers: Those in default will now be referred to debt collections, Axios' Emily Peck reports.
Why it matters: Because of the messy state of the student loan world, the economic fallout could be far more widespread than anticipated, hitting some who typically would be able to pay back loans. It also comes amid recession fears, worries over higher inflation, and a slowdown in hiring.
📈 By the numbers: The 5.3 million who are already in default could see the federal government garnish their wages, Social Security benefits or tax refunds.
Many more are in limbo. Some 20% of borrowers are in delinquency, but not yet at the default line — more than 270 days past due — according to a report earlier this week from credit agency TransUnion. That's up from 11.5% in February 2020, when the federal government stopped asking people to pay on their loans.
Zoom out: Many of these people would normally be able to avoid default, and work out a payment plan. But the mechanisms meant to help them navigate the process are in shambles.
The White House gutted the Department of Education, which manages student loans. It's trying to do the same to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which helps folks navigate the financial system.
👀 But this isn't a mess that the current White House started.
The roots go to 2020, when the government told borrowers they no longer had to make payments. The Biden administration extended that grace period for three years.
The program was poorly implemented and overly generous from the start, says Tomasz Piskorski, a finance professor at Columbia Business School, who wrote a major study on debt forbearance in COVID, published by Brookings.
It was different from other kinds of pandemic debt relief programs — like for mortgage holders, who had to apply. (Few did.) For student loan borrowers, everyone got a pass. That's created a bigger problem.
7. 🍼 Trending baby names
Olivia and Liam were the top baby girl and boy names in America last year.
Rounding out the top 10 girl names:
2. Emma
3. Amelia
4. Charlotte
5. Mia
6. Sophia
7. Isabella
8. Evelyn
9. Ava
10. Sofia
And the boys:
2. Noah
3. Oliver
4. Theodore
5. James
6. Henry
7. Mateo
8. Elijah
9. Lucas
10. William
The only new entrant on either list is Sofia.
8. 🎸 1 for the road: Mom rock
This weekend, in Miramar, Fla., a music festival is celebrating a little-discussed but well-loved genre: mom rock.
🎤 Zoom in: "While 'dad rock' is understood as earnest, '70s and '80s rock from Bruce Springsteen and Steely Dan, meant for blasting at a backyard barbecue, 'mom rock' is as much about community as the music," The Wall Street Journal reports.
"Mom rock" artists include Brandi Carlisle — the architect of the Miramar festival, titled " Mothership Weekend" — Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow, Paula Cole and even Gen Z sensation Olivia Rodrigo.
In many ways, it's an evolution of Lilith Fair, the music festival featuring all female solo artists and female-led bands co-founded by Sarah McLachlan in 1997.
🎡 At the festival, "you can be who you are and how you are at any given time," Carlisle told the Journal. "People come back, not for me, but for the people that they met there, and for the consistency of that unconditional acceptance and love that they're getting."