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Los Angeles Times
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Trump's MAGA spell is broken. Even his base knows he is a lame duck
For an entire decade now, Donald Trump has been immune to alienating his supporters — a base so loyal they'd drink bleach if he told them it would own the libs (and some probably did). Stormy Daniels? A spiritual growth opportunity for evangelicals to witness a modern-day King David. Inciting a Capitol riot? Boosted his Q-rating (not to mention his QAnon rating). Bombing Iran? Sure, a few 'America First' types grumbled into their microphones about endless wars before dutifully moving on. Trump himself bragged he could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue, shoot somebody and not lose a single voter. He was right. But the current wave of intra-MAGA criticism — over the Trump administration's defensive insistence that Jeffrey Epstein (a) definitely committed suicide, and (b) never had a client list — feels categorically different. Trump can usually smother an inconvenient news cycle by tossing a fresh carcass on the table, be it a deranged Truth Social post or a threat to jail an enemy. This time, however, his suggestion that Rosie O'Donnell should have her citizenship revoked barely registered above ambient noise, as the mob kept hammering him over his refusal to release the Epstein files. His latest weapon of mass distraction is a not-so-subtle hint that he might fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. But even that hasn't managed to shift the spotlight away from Epstein. Having failed at distraction, Trump reverted to bullying. He scolded the press for dredging up old news ('Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?') He took to Truth Social to tell his MAGA supporters not to 'waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein.' He absurdly claimed the Epstein files were a 'scam' and a 'hoax' made up by Democrats, and described the folks who 'bought into this bull—' as 'weaklings' and his 'PAST supporters.' These efforts tamed some of the criticism inside the MAGA tent. But for others, it only reinforced the perception of a cover-up. So why has the Epstein scandal — of all things — threatened civil war on the right? I have some thoughts. First: It speaks to where the passions of MAGA really lie. For some percentage of Trump supporters, exposing the satanic, blood-drinking pedophile cabal was supposed to be the deliverable — his raison d'être — the payoff. Instead they got, what, corporate tax cuts? Second: The Epstein narrative is too lurid and concrete to be handwaved away. Epstein really was a sex trafficker. There really are those photographs of him palling around with Trump. He really was on 'suicide watch.' Minutes really are missing from the surveillance video near Epstein's cell. Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi really did say on Fox News in February that Epstein's client list was 'sitting on my desk right now.' You don't need to be in a tin-foil hat to notice the fishiness here. And third: The incentives have changed for MAGA influencers. Trump finally feels like a lame duck, and the knives are out, not just to inherit the throne, but for the whole spoils system of the MAGA grift. To be clear, plenty of the usual sycophants have decided to 'trust the plan' and go along with the party line. But others — Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nick Fuentes and assorted alt-right B-listers — seem to have caught the scent of blood in the water. Even the new cohort of MAGA-adjacent bro podcasters — guys like Andrew Schulz — have started to openly criticize him. Schulz recently called Trump's failure to release the Epstein files 'insulting our intelligence,' which, for that demographic, is tantamount to open revolt. Here, Trump could really face some attrition. Unlike the evangelical core, these manosphere podcasters (and their legions of young male listeners) are not partisans or ideologues; their support for Trump has always been more middle finger than mission. And middle fingers, as everyone eventually learns, can be directed at new targets anytime. So how does this end? Eventually, this story will be suppressed or at least professionally ignored. But it won't be fully memory-holed. It will linger somewhere between subliminal and ubiquitous, in much the same way that George W. Bush never fully escaped the stench of those nonexistent WMDs (even after Republicans agreed to stay the course). So Trump survives — but he carries with him a dormant virus that could flare up again. There's a certain irony here that's almost too obvious to point out, except that it's also irresistible: Trump built an entire ecology of paranoia — a system that rewards its most theatrical paranoids. He spent years feeding his ravenous base suspicion and spectacle. And it worked. Until he finally got out-conspiracy-theoried. Even the best carnival barker runs out of new tricks eventually. And when the crowd starts peeking behind the curtain, the spell is broken, and the jig is up. Matt K. Lewis is the author of 'Filthy Rich Politicians' and 'Too Dumb to Fail.'
Politico
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
The MAGA factions fighting about Epstein
Presented by TAXONOMY OF A MOVEMENT — It's been a contentious time inside the MAGA coalition. In the last month alone, competing factions of President Donald Trump's supporters have repeatedly squared off over the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, the 'big, beautiful' spending bill and Trump's immigration crackdown. But no issue has exposed the underlying fault lines in the MAGA tent quite like the so-called Epstein files. The furor has centered on a new government review of the evidence surrounding the disgraced financier and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who died in federal prison in 2019 after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges. The unsigned report, released jointly by the FBI and Department of Justice last Monday, found no evidence of an incriminating 'client list' or a wider blackmail ring surrounding Epstein, and it concluded the financier died by suicide in his prison cell. Those findings ran contrary to the numerous theories — many of them endorsed by members of Trump's own administration — that Epstein kept a list of the many powerful people to whom he supplied underage victims and was murdered as part of a far-reaching government conspiracy. The report has sparked furious backlash from various parts of the MAGA coalition, much of it directed toward Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had promised a comprehensive account of the Epstein case, and FBI Director Kash Patel, who helped popularize various conspiracy theories surrounding the Epstein case before joining the administration. On Saturday, Trump — a longtime associate of Epstein — tried to tamp down the intra-MAGA revolt with a post on Truth Social reiterating his support for Bondi and suggesting that the Epstein files had been manufactured by his Democratic opponents. Yet Trump's digital missive appears to have done little to quell the MAGA movement's fury over the controversy. The controversy over the Epstein files demonstrates that dissonant strands persist despite Trump's domination of the party. Meanwhile, the controversy has pushed the MAGA movement to the brink of its most serious political schism since Trump returned to office in January. The landscape of the controversy is still shifting, as different members of Trump's coalition either fall in line or fall out. But as it stands now, here is a taxonomy of the various factions duking it out over the Epstein files. For a more comprehensive list, read the full report at POLITICO Magazine. The 'Nothing to See Here'-ers Several members of Trump's administration — including Bondi and Patel — entered their new jobs stoking suspicion about a government coverup of the Epstein files and promising to use their new power to get to the bottom of the case. But now that they're in the government, they're claiming that they've gotten to the bottom — and there's nothing much to see down there. That was the gist of DOJ and the FBI's report, and the message has been reenforced by Bondi and Patel in the week since. 'The conspiracy theories just aren't true, never have been,' wrote Patel — who promoted theories about Epstein's 'black book' in 2023 — in a post on X over the weekend. Bondi, meanwhile, has walked back previous comments suggesting that Epstein's client list was 'sitting on [her] desk,' claiming she meant all the files relating to the Epstein case. The leader of the 'nothing to see here' gang is, of course, Trump himself. 'Let's … not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about,' Trump wrote in his Truth Social post on Saturday. The Deep State Redux Another group of Trump's supporters have revived a favorite MAGA leitmotif to explain the lack of disclosure in the Epstein case: that the 'deep state' is outmaneuvering Trump's deputies to thwart the democratic will and protect itself and its elites. This faction's most voluble mouthpiece is Steve Bannon, the de facto leader of MAGA's nationalist-populist faction, though his position has received some qualified support from other MAGA activists like Charlie Kirk and Jack Posobiec. Speaking at the TPUSA summit this weekend, Bannon argued that 'you can easily fit in the Epstein situation' into the alleged history of deep state efforts to foil Trump. The lack of new information in the report, Bannon alleged, is proof that Trump's allies still do not have a sufficiently powerful foothold in the national security state and intelligence apparatus — a position that at once absolves Trump and his deputies of blame and simultaneously makes the case for extending the MAGA incursion deeper into government institutions. Notably, Bannon has trod lightly around other conservatives' demands that Bondi, Patel and other Trump appointees be fired or step down. 'You could have [Deputy FBI Director] Dan Bongino resign, or Pam Bondi resign … but what you're going to have is turmoil,' Bannon said this weekend. 'What we want to do is not upend FBI and DOJ. We need to get to the bottom of Epstein.' The Israel Skeptics A slightly distinct slice of the MAGA movement has zeroed in on Epstein's alleged ties to Israeli, suggesting that Epstein's sex trafficking activities could have been part of a joint U.S.-Israeli 'honeypot' operation designed to ensnare valuable intelligence targets. Last week, MAGA media megastar Tucker Carlson released a lengthy podcast interview laying out this theory with the conservative commentator Saagar Enjeti, who pointed to Epstein's relationship with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and past reporting suggesting that Epstein may have had ties to U.S. intelligence. The implication, left mostly unstated by its proponents, is that Epstein was either killed or coerced into committing suicide to prevent details of a possible operation from coming to light. Notably, this line of critique is emerging from the members of the MAGA coalition who most vocally opposed the U.S. bombings of Iran and who have most openly criticized the U.S. relationship with Israel. Those views, as well as their continued skepticism over the Epstein case, have brought Carlson and his backers into more or less open conflict with Trump. 'I like Trump. I campaigned for Trump,' Carlson said in a recent interview with NBC News. 'But I've got my views.' The Lukewarm Podcast Bros So-called podcast bros like Joe Rogan and Andrew Schulz jumped on the Trump train in 2024, but the Epstein files controversy — as well as Trump's other recent moves backing away from his more populist agenda items — seem to be giving them second thoughts. On a podcast this weekend, Schulz, wearing a tin-foil hat as a gag, accused Trump of covering up the facts of the Epstein case, saying the administration's recent report is 'insulting to our intelligence.' Rogan, meanwhile, posted this sardonic message: 'Shout out to all the people that still don't believe in conspiracies. Your ability to stick to your guns is inspiring.' Those comments come on the heels of a handful of other criticisms that the podcast bros have levied at Trump in recent weeks, suggesting that their flirtation with the MAGA movement may be coming to an end. Earlier this month, Rogan criticized Trump's 'insane' immigration crackdown for targeting non-criminal migrants, and Schulz has gone after Trump for reneging on his campaign promises by bombing Iran and adding to the federal debt with his 'big, beautiful bill.' Although Rogan and Schulz are, by their own admission, not diehard MAGA loyalists, their criticisms could spell political trouble for Trump, whose ability to win over disaffected but not particularly ideological young men proved critical to his 2024 victory. But the honeymoon seems to be ending. As Schulz put it last week, 'Trump is doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for.' Team Elon Elon Musk, as a team of one, has not passed up on the opportunity to beat up on his ex-bestie as he tries to stake out a new political lane separate from Trump. 'How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won't release the Epstein files?' Musk posted last week. He added: 'Seriously. He said 'Epstein' half a dozen times while telling everyone to stop talking about Epstein. Just release the files as promised.' Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas at nightly@ Or contact tonight's author at iward@ or on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @ianwardreports. What'd I Miss? — Trump agrees to send weapons to Ukraine: President Donald Trump announced today that NATO allies will finance the purchase of air defense systems and other weapons for Ukraine, his most significant move yet to support Kyiv in a war with Russia he's long hoped to end. The weapons, worth 'billions of dollars,' will be built by the U.S. defense industry and financed by European countries, Trump said. Trump made the announcement during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, who heralded the president's decision as 'really big.' — Cuomo announces uphill general election bid for New York City mayor: Andrew Cuomo will mount a long-shot independent bid for New York City mayor after he decisively lost a Democratic primary to Zohran Mamdani. The former governor made the announcement in a social media post that showed images of him speaking with people on city streets — a seeming echo of Mamdani's popular short-form videos interacting with New Yorkers. In his announcement, Cuomo framed the race as a two-man contest with the 33-year-old democratic socialist, ignoring incumbent Eric Adams, Republican Curtis Sliwa and independent Jim Walden. — Pentagon probes examine key Hegseth allies: Two of the Pentagon's top investigative bodies are digging into a pair of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's close aides and their role in the controversy surrounding government use of the Signal app to discuss sensitive information, according to three people familiar with the probes. The Defense Department Inspector General's office first opened an investigation in early April into whether Hegseth violated the agency's standards for sharing classified information by using the commercial messaging app to discuss active attack plans in Yemen. — Pentagon will start using Musk's Grok: The Defense Department will begin using Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot started by billionaire Elon Musk's startup xAI. In a post to Musk's social media platform X, xAI unveiled Grok for Government, 'a suite of products that make our frontier models available to United States Government customers.' The deal marks a significant step for Musk's AI. The South African tech billionaire has positioned his program as a direct competitor to OpenAI, which also reached a contract, in the defense and technology space. — Texas failed to spend federal aid for disaster protection: In the past decade, as extreme weather killed nearly 700 people in Texas, the state relinquished $225 million in federal grant money that it was supposed to spend on protecting residents from disasters, federal records show. The money had come from a special federal disaster program that's given states billions of dollars for projects such as flood protection, tornado safety and the type of warning systems that could have saved some of the 129 people killed in Texas' recent flash flooding. Texas had rejected two requests from the flooded county for a small portion of the federal money to set up a flood-warning system. But Texas, like most states, has chosen not to spend a significant chunk of its mitigation grant money. States routinely let the government reclaim unspent money — or let available money go unused for as long as 20 years, according to an analysis of federal records by POLITICO's E&E News. — Supreme Court allows mass layoffs at Education Department as Trump seeks to close the agency: A divided Supreme Court has cleared the way for the Education Department to fire almost 40 percent of its workforce four months after President Donald Trump ordered his administration to begin closing down the department. The justices, by an apparent 6-3 vote announced today, lifted an injunction a federal judge in Boston granted in May against the firings. That judge found that the staff cuts were so drastic they would prevent the department from carrying out duties mandated by Congress. He also said the mass firings appeared to be part of Trump's plan to eliminate the Education Department entirely, despite a lack of congressional authorization to do so. AROUND THE WORLD GROWING CONCERNS — Don't focus so much on Ukraine that you miss the severe threats to European security brewing in Libya. That's the message Italy and Greece are trying to deliver to their EU and NATO allies, but without much success. Migrant flows from Libya are spiking again, at a time Rome is increasingly concerned about Russia's growing influence in the unstable North African nation, wielded through arms supplies and a potential new naval base in the northeastern port of Tobruk. Athens has also sent two warships to conduct patrols off Libya in response to the migration surge and its strategic concerns that its archrival, Turkey, is working with the Libyans to carve up the Mediterranean into maritime zones for energy exploration. The zones claim waters just south of the Greek island of Crete, while Athens deems them illegal under international maritime law. STRIKING BACK — The European Union is looking at targeting €72 billion in U.S. goods in a second round of trade countermeasures, including aircraft, cars and car parts, according to a list seen by POLITICO today. The bulk of those exports targeted are industrial goods, totaling €65.7 billion, while €6.4 billion in agricultural products would also be hit if EU countries back the new retaliatory tariffs. The list includes bourbon whiskey, despite intense lobbying from France and Ireland to shield the drinks sector from U.S. President Donald Trump's reprisals. The biggest line item in the 200-page list is aircraft and aircraft parts, with tariffs set to target almost €11 billion of U.S. exports — potentially dealing a heavy blow to plane maker Boeing. SOCIAL MEDIA SHUTDOWN — The European Commission said today countries can implement their own national bans for minors on social media, in new guidelines under its powerful Digital Services Act. The EU executive has been under pressure in recent months to roll out measures to protect minors online. National governments in France, Denmark, Spain and elsewhere have called for social media restrictions, with some criticizing the EU for not acting quickly enough. France and the Netherlands have supported an outright ban of social media for minors under 15. Greece has said it thinks parental consent should be required for children under a certain age. Denmark, which currently helms work in the Council of the EU, is pushing for stronger EU-level actions. Nightly Number RADAR SWEEP THE MONEY BEHIND THE MUSIC — If you've ever thought that the music played at your favorite restaurant perfectly matches its vibe, that's no mistake. And it comes at a price. Since 1917, public venues have had to license and pay royalties on each song they play, or they can face charges up to $150,000 per violation. Songwriters rely on these royalties to make a living, especially as streaming has reshaped the music industry. But now, some restaurants, bars, hotels are wondering if it's worth the price as the cost of licensing contracts have skyrocketed in recent years. Ashley Carman and Aruni Soni report for Bloomberg. Parting Image Jacqueline Munis contributed to this newsletter. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here.
Politico
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Politico
The 8 MAGA Factions Duking It Out Over Epstein
It's been a contentious time inside the MAGA coalition. In the last month alone, competing factions of President Donald Trump's supporters have repeatedly squared off over the bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities, the 'big, beautiful' tax-and-spending bill and Trump's immigration crackdown. But no issue has exposed the underlying fault lines in the MAGA tent quite like the so-called Epstein files. The furor has centered on a new government review of the evidence surrounding the disgraced financier and convicted sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, who died in federal prison in 2019 after being arrested on child sex trafficking charges. The unsigned report, released jointly by the FBI and Department of Justice last Monday, found no evidence of an incriminating 'client list' or a wider blackmail ring surrounding Epstein, and it concluded the financier died by suicide in his prison cell. Those findings ran contrary to the numerous theories — many of them once endorsed by members of Trump's own administration — that Epstein kept a list of the many powerful people to whom he supplied underage victims and was murdered as part of a far-reaching government conspiracy The report has sparked furious backlash from various parts of the MAGA coalition, much of it directed toward Attorney General Pam Bondi, who had promised a comprehensive account of the Epstein case, and FBI Director Kash Patel, who helped popularize various conspiracy theories surrounding the Epstein case before joining the administration. Even Trump has faced some heat from former allies and supporters. On Saturday, Trump — who has long been referenced in documents released in court cases surrounding Epstein but is not accused of wrongdoing — tried to tamp down the intra-MAGA revolt with a post on Truth Social reiterating his support for Bondi and suggesting that the Epstein files had been manufactured by his Democratic opponents. Yet Trump's digital missive appears to have done little to quell the MAGA movement's fury over the controversy, which continues to dominate the discussion in conservative circles in Washington. The fallout over the Epstein report has been distinct from the recent skirmishes over Iran and immigration. Instead of neatly dividing Trump world into two opposing and mutually antagonistic camps, the debate has fractured the right into a kaleidoscopic mélange of competing factions, throwing into sharp relief the divergent — and often contradictory — ideological impulses co-existing within MAGA-world. These warring impulses are often subsumed by the right's overwhelming fidelity to Trump, but the controversy over the Epstein files demonstrates that these dissonant strands persist despite Trump's domination of the party. Meanwhile, the controversy has pushed the MAGA movement to the brink of its most serious political schism since Trump returned to office in January. The landscape of the controversy is still shifting, as different members of Trump's coalition either fall in line or fall out. But as it stands now, here is an as-comprehensive-as-possible taxonomy of the various factions duking it out over the Epstein files. The 'Nothing to See Here'-ers Several members of Trump's administration — including Bondi and Patel — entered their new jobs stoking suspicion about a government coverup of the Epstein files and promising to use their new power to get to the bottom of the case. But now that they're in the government, they're claiming that they've gotten to the bottom — and there's nothing much to see down there. That was the gist of the DOJ and FBI report, and the message has been reenforced by Bondi and Patel in the week since. 'The conspiracy theories just aren't true, never have been,' wrote Patel — who promoted theories about Epstein's 'black book' in 2023 — in a post on X over the weekend. Bondi, meanwhile, has walked backed previous comments suggesting that Epstein's client list was 'sitting on [her] desk,' claiming she meant all the files relating to the Epstein case. The leader of the 'nothing to see here' gang is, of course, Trump himself. 'One year ago our Country was DEAD, now it's the 'HOTTEST' Country anywhere in the World,' Trump wrote in his Truth Social post on Saturday. 'Let's keep it that way, and not waste Time and Energy on Jeffrey Epstein, somebody that nobody cares about.' The Deep State Haters Another group of Trump's supporters have revived a favorite MAGA leitmotif to explain the lack of disclosure in the Epstein case: that the 'deep state' is outmaneuvering Trump's deputies to thwart the democratic will and protect itself and its elites. This faction's most voluble mouthpiece is Steve Bannon, the de facto leader of MAGA's nationalist-populist faction, though his position received some qualified support over the weekend from other MAGA activists like Charlie Kirk and Jack Posobiec. (Kirk has since said that he's 'done talking about Epstein for the time being.' Speaking at the TPUSA summit this weekend, Bannon argued that 'you can easily fit in the Epstein situation' to the alleged history of deep state efforts to foil Trump. The lack of new information in the report, Bannon alleged, is proof that Trump's allies still do not have a sufficiently powerful foothold in the national security state and intelligence apparatus — a position that at once absolves Trump and his deputies of blame and simultaneously makes the case for extending the MAGA incursion deeper into government institutions. Notably, Bannon has trod lightly around other conservatives' demands that Bondi, Patel and other Trump appointees be fired or step down. 'You could have [Deputy FBI Director] Dan Bongino resign, or Pam Bondi resign … but what you're going to have is turmoil,' Bannon said this weekend. 'What we want to do is not upend FBI and DOJ. We need to get to the bottom of Epstein.' The Israel Skeptics A slightly distinct slice of the MAGA movement has zeroed in on Epstein's alleged ties to Israel, suggesting that Epstein's sex trafficking activities could have been part of a joint U.S.-Israeli 'honeypot' operation designed to ensnare valuable intelligence targets. Last week, MAGA media megastar Tucker Carlson released a lengthy podcast interview laying out this theory with the conversative commentator Saagar Enjeti, who pointed to Epstein's relationship with former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and past reporting suggesting that Epstein may have had ties to U.S. intelligence. The implication, left mostly unstated by its proponents, is that Epstein was either killed or coerced into killing himself to prevent details of a possible operation from coming to light. Notably, this line of critique is emerging from the members of the MAGA coalition who most vocally opposed the U.S. bombings of Iran and who have most openly criticized the U.S. relationship with Israel. Those views, as well as their continued skepticism over the Epstein case, have brought Carlson and his backers into more or less open conflict with Trump. 'I like Trump. I campaigned for Trump,' Carlson said in a recent interview with NBC News. 'But I've got my views.' The Loyalty Enforcers The Epstein files controversy has also become grist for the coterie of Trump's self-appointed loyalty enforcers, who have taken on the responsibility of separating the Trumpist faithful from the opportunistic hangers-on. Their leader is the MAGA activist Laura Loomer, who has repeatedly intervened in the administration to convince Trump to banish followers whom she deems insufficiently loyal — most notably several members of the National Security Council whom Trump fired in April after meeting with Loomer. Now, Loomer has set her sights on Bondi, whom she has been attacking relentlessly on social media. 'Pam Blondi is very damaging to President Trump's image,' Loomer wrote in a post on X. 'She drags the administration down and the base doesn't want her as AG.' Trump, of course, is not in the slightest to blame. Loomer has also seized on the controversy to take up some of her longstanding beefs with other prominent members of the MAGA activist class, including Tucker Carlson, Charlie Kirk and Matt Gaetz. In the meantime, she has called on Trump to appoint a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation into the files — a suggestion which, given his recent efforts to downplay the files, Trump is unlikely to follow. The Lukewarm Podcast Bros So-called podcast bros like Joe Rogan and Andrew Schulz jumped on the Trump train in 2024, but the Epstein files controversy — as well as Trump's other recent moves backing away from his more populist agenda items — seems to be giving them second thoughts. On a podcast this weekend, Schulz, wearing a tin-foil hat as a gag, accused Trump of covering up the facts of the Epstein case, saying the administration's recent report is 'insulting to our intelligence.' Rogan, meanwhile, posted this sardonic message: 'Shout out to all the people that still don't believe in conspiracies. Your ability to stick to your guns is inspiring.' Those comments come on the tail of a handful of other criticisms that the podcast bros have levied at Trump in recent weeks, suggesting that their flirtation with the MAGA movement may be coming to an end. Earlier this month, Rogan criticized Trump's 'insane' immigration crackdown for targeting non-criminal migrants, and Schulz has gone after Trump for reneging on his campaign promises by bombing Iran and adding to the federal debt with his megabill. Although Rogan and Schulz are, by their own admission, not diehard MAGA loyalists, their criticism could spell political trouble for Trump, whose ability to win over disaffected but not particularly ideological young men proved critical to his 2024 victory. But the honeymoon seems to be ending. As Schulz put it last week, 'Trump is doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for.' The Conspicuously Silent Crowd Another group of MAGA supporters have responded to the report with the most conspicuous response of all: silence. Chief among the newly silent crowd is MAGA-media-personality-turned-Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, who entered the government vowing to get to the bottom of the many theories about Epstein that he once pushed, only to clam up since the report dropped. Bongino is now caught between his loyalty to Trump and his long-stated beliefs about the case, and he's gone AWOL in response: According to a report from Axios, he didn't show up to work on Friday, and CNN reported on Monday that Bongino has 'excommunicated himself from most of his colleagues after a major fallout with Attorney General Pam Bondi.' Bongino is joined in his awkward position by Vice President JD Vance, who has publicly cast doubt on the details of Epstein's death and called on the government to release Epstein's client list during the 2024 campaign. Vance has reportedly been playing the role of mediator in the intra-administration showdown about the recent report, but he has not spoken publicly about the controversy. The Plan Trusters Throughout the recent tumult for the MAGA coalition, a solid block of Trump's supporters has effectively coalesced around a new motto: 'Trust the plan.' You may not understand what Trump is up to, so the thinking goes, but Trump certainly does — and that should be good enough for the rest of us. In this case, the plan trusters concede that incriminating files might exist, but Trump and his team are justified in covering them up. 'Must be some juicy and dangerous stuff in those files. But I don't feel the need to be a backseat driver on this topic,' posted Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comics who has veered sharply to the right in recent years. 'Four leaders I trust said it's time to let it go. They want what is best for America and they have their reasons. I don't need to check their work.' There are some signs, though, that this argument is losing its hold over the MAGA base. 'We trusted the plan with Trump, but now Trump has become the deep state,' one young attendee at the TPUSA summit told Bannon this weekend. 'What is more deep state than covering up for pedophiles?' Team Elon Elon Musk, as a team of one, has not passed up on the opportunity to beat up on his ex-bestie as he tries to stake out a new political lane separate from Trump. 'How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won't release the Epstein files?' Musk posted last week. He added: 'Seriously. He said 'Epstein' half a dozen times while telling everyone to stop talking about Epstein. Just release the files as promised.'
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's Iran War Talk Testing His Ties With MAGA Loyalists
(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump's hints that he may dispatch the US military to help Israel destroy Iran's nuclear program has spurred a revolt from his typically faithful America First base, further dividing a party already struggling to unite around the president's second-term agenda. Security Concerns Hit Some of the World's 'Most Livable Cities' JFK AirTrain Cuts Fares 50% This Summer to Lure Riders Off Roads How E-Scooters Conquered (Most of) Europe Taser-Maker Axon Triggers a NIMBY Backlash in its Hometown Trump continues to be non-committal on what he'll ultimately decide, but his rhetoric toward Iran has grown more belligerent in the six days since Israel launched its offensive — pushing the US closer to involvement in a foreign war. That's firmly at odds with a central tenet of Trump's own 'Make America Great Again' movement, fashioned during his political ascent amid voter frustration with decades of US military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Trump sharpened his anti-war stance during the 2024 election as he hit President Joe Biden over the haphazard US withdrawal from Afghanistan and pledged to avoid conflicts overseas. As recently as last month — and speaking in the Middle East, where he's currently building up US forces for potential engagement — Trump lambasted the US 'neocons' for the wars they fought in the region. He said he wants the Mideast to be a place 'where people of different nations, religions and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other out of existence.' Now, as Trump agitates on Iran, the intra-MAGA fault lines are deepening. Trump and conservative media personality Tucker Carlson have traded barbs over the 'America First' doctrine as the former Fox News host calls for the US to steer clear of the Israel-Iran conflict. Laura Loomer, a right-wing social media influencer and staunch Trump supporter, jumped into the fray in Trump's defense. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who has long pushed for a US attack on Iran, said that he's spoken to Trump and urged him to act. Graham played down the GOP divide, saying 90% of Republicans support Trump helping Israel and most Americans believe stopping Iran's nuclear ambitions is 'absolutely essential,' even if it involves the use of force. Graham's numbers, however, may be overly optimistic. Even as half of Americans view Iran as an enemy of the US, some 60% say that the US shouldn't get involved militarily in the Israeli war, according to a YouGov poll conducted between June 13 and June 16. That includes 53% of of Republicans, the poll showed. In a sign of how Trump is in some ways talking himself into the war — or at least rationalizing the option to do so — he's increasingly pointing to his long-held position that Iran shouldn't have a nuclear weapon. While Trump himself during his first term pulled out of a global agreement aimed at ensuring that Iran can't get atomic bombs, he's cast the prospect that it might do so as an existential threat to the US and its allies alike. Vice President JD Vance, a Marine Corps veteran who's also advocated for a more isolationist US, has pointed to Trump's consistency on the topic as he seeks to defend his boss against the base. The president acknowledged the split among Republicans in response to reporters' questions Wednesday morning on the White House lawn. 'So I may have some people that are a little bit unhappy now, but I have some people that are very happy,' Trump said. 'And I have people outside of the base who can't believe that this is happening, they're so happy.' Later, Trump told reporters that Carlson had called him. The president said that the commentator wanted to apologize for his language and said he believed Carlson on some level accepted the argument that Iran should not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. He also dismissed the notion the flap could divide his base. 'My supporters are for me. My supporters are America first,' Trump said. Steve Bannon, a longtime Trump ally and early disciple of Trump's populist doctrine, said there's no urgency for the US to join Israel's campaign as it already succeeded in gaining control of Iranian airspace. He said that American involvement should be determined by US intelligence and not Israel's, and he stressed several times that this is Israel's fight to finish. But even as Trump's base bristles at the notion of the president taking the US into a war, Bannon said he'll ultimately retain support. 'The MAGA movement, the Marjorie Taylor Greene's, Matt Gaetz, we will fight it up until the end to make sure he's got the full information. But if he has more intelligence and makes that case to the American people, the MAGA movement will support President Trump,' Bannon said. Tumult in the Middle East has driven oil prices higher. Under the most extreme scenario, should the US join Israel in the strikes and the Strait of Hormuz is shut, crude could surge past $130 a barrel, weigh on the global economy and drive up consumer prices, according to a Bloomberg Economics analysis. The debate between Trump allies calling for US involvement in the conflict and those urging him to steer clear was encapsulated in a recorded exchange between Carlson and Ted Cruz for Carlson's show. Carlson stumped Cruz on a question about Iran's population, saying that it's an important metric to know for anyone agitating for war with a country. Cruz, who spoke to Trump about Iran over the weekend, on Wednesday told reporters he doesn't envision US troops on the ground in Iran, but suggested a limited bombing strike to take out a nuclear weapons facility could be on the table for Trump. 'And if he does so, it will make Americans substantially safer,' Cruz said. The political ramifications will play out in Congress, either as part of the ongoing push-and-pull over executive branch powers or with the looming 2026 midterm election cycle. Only Congress has the constitutional authority to authorize war, but lawmakers have ceded that power to the president for more than two decades. The last authorization for use of military force approved by Congress was in 2002 for the Iraq war, and that came back to bite lawmakers politically. Senator Tim Kaine, a Democrat, has introduced legislation that would force a vote on any US war with Iran. He was joined in the House by Republican Thomas Massie, who has already publicly sparred with Trump over the president's legislative agenda. Senate Majority Leader John Thune acknowledged the ideological split within his party and defended Trump's war powers, signaling he doesn't intend to take up Kaine's bill anytime soon. 'We have people in our party, as you know, that have different views about America's role in the world,' Thune said. 'But I think the president is well within his authority, understands what's at stake in insuring Iran never has a nuclear weapon, and will do everything he can to protect America and American interests.' (Updates to include Trump remarks on Carlson in paragraphs 13-14. A previous version of this story corrected spelling of Marjorie Taylor Greene's name and that the Cruz-Carlson exchange took place on Carlson's platform.) Ken Griffin on Trump, Harvard and Why Novice Investors Won't Beat the Pros Is Mark Cuban the Loudmouth Billionaire that Democrats Need for 2028? How a Tiny Middleman Could Access Two-Factor Login Codes From Tech Giants Can 'MAMUWT' Be to Musk What 'TACO' Is to Trump? American Mid: Hampton Inn's Good-Enough Formula for World Domination ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
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06-06-2025
- Politics
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"He should be deported": Bannon warns Trump to "get ahead" of Elon before he can "steal" 2028 race
Former White House aide Steve Bannon is proposing a dramatic escalation in the intra-MAGA feud that burst into public view on Thursday. Bannon, still a close ally and informal adviser to President Donald Trump, called on the president to kick his adviser-turned-rival Elon Musk out of the country. 'They should initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status, because I am of the strong belief that he is an illegal alien, and he should be deported from the country immediately,' Bannon told the New York Times on Thursday. Bannon also told the Times that the Trump administration should suspend Musk's security clearance, pending an investigation into the Tesla CEO's alleged heavy drug use and his reported effort to obtain a classified China briefing from the Pentagon. Speaking on his War Room podcast on Thursday, Bannon elaborated that Trump had to 'get ahead' of Musk, because otherwise the billionaire would work with Democrats to impeach the president, 'steal' the 2028 election from him and put him in prison. Bannon has often made the case that Trump should and will run for an unconstitutional third term in office. 'As sure as the turning of the Earth, if those progressives rub up on him and say, 'Hey, they're never going to buy the Teslas' – they rub up on him, he'll write a $500 million check for Hakeem Jeffries,' Bannon said on War Room. Bannon also suggested that the federal government should temporarily seize Musk's businesses. Bannon has long-running animosity toward Musk. In a February interview, he called the South African tech mogul a 'parasitic illegal immigrant.' Watch Bannon's remarks here:
