MAGA world is torn asunder! At least that’s what a lot of D.C. reporters seem to think. The truth is less dramatic. Anger and confusion over recent moves by the administration are real, but also a natural part of governance — and the reality of political success. Of course, that doesn’t mean the players inside the administration are all safe in their jobs.
The White House is currently engaged in heated back-and-forths on two major fronts: the Epstein files and lethal aid to Ukraine and the ongoing U.S. role in that conflict. The administration has set clear paths on both: The Jeffrey Epstein investigation is officially closed, and weapons will continue flowing to Ukraine.
This moment won’t define the administration. The latest drama will look like a sideshow soon enough.
People are angry, and the president is irritated. Major White House players might fall in the aftermath.
First, neither issue is a threat to the MAGA coalition, any more than an aborted freeze on ICE agricultural raids, or strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, or even Elon Musk’s angry departure threatened the president’s authority or popularity with his base. There will always be back-and-forths inside a dynamic coalition with players who are old-time believers and players who secretly long for less confrontational politics.
The first Trump administration was beset on all sides and from within. The second administration is far more unified, and Democrats and their allies in government and American intel agencies are on the back foot — and have significantly less credibility with Republicans than the first time around.
A seriously weakened opposition party naturally creates more opportunities for infighting, and a political movement largely governed by one man is going to clash from time to time with those outside (and inside) players with strong thoughts or stakes in any field.
Sometimes explosions of internet outrage can have an impact, though, as was the case during the brief pause on agricultural immigration raids. While Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents lacked the resources to crack down broadly before the One Big Beautiful Bill Act put more than $46 billion toward deportation resources, a public shift in policy sat terribly with many of the White House’s faithful supporters. The ensuing reaction caused a pullback.
During a July 3 rally in Des Moines, Iowa, President Donald Trump called out Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins by name as the person who “brought this whole situation up,” while promising to make sure farmers and hotel owners were included in the enforcement process.
Speaking in Washington on Monday, Rollins clarified: “There will be no amnesty.” She added: “The mass deportations continue, but in a strategic way, and we move the workforce towards automation and 100% American participation.”
BlazeTV host and columnist Auron MacIntyre was one of several to get the message loud and clear: “Always chimp,” he wrote — a reference to “chimping out” when bad policies are floated.
Strong negative reactions won’t always work, though. The president was clearly irritated when New York Post reporter Steven Nelson asked about the Epstein files during a Tuesday Cabinet meeting but allowed Attorney General Pam Bondi to answer anyway. There’s nothing there, she said, and nothing more coming — but that doesn’t mean her position is secure.
Maybe there is nothing else there beyond “this creep” and an imprisoned Ghislaine Maxwell. Then again, maybe releasing all that’s known would threaten foreign or domestic intelligence operations around Epstein’s infamous island.
Either way, Bondi’s been under concerted attack for mishandling the media and releases around the Epstein files for months. Prominent conservative voices, including Blaze Media co-founder Glenn Beck, clearly don’t think she’s up to the job. Notably, the president didn’t name her in a Truth Social post defending FBI Director Kash Patel and his deputy, Dan Bongino.
Lastly, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has drifted in and out of Trump’s inner circle — and trouble. Reports suggest he was sidelined during key phases of the Iran strike. On Friday, President Trump told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he hadn’t approved the pause in aid shipments. Then, during Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins he didn’t know who gave the order to halt the shipments. That kind of public distance from the president doesn’t speak well for Hegseth’s standing.
Still, this moment won’t define the administration. We’re only seven months into a four-year term. The White House remains focused on major priorities: finishing the border wall, revitalizing and reshoring the economy, ramping up immigration enforcement, renegotiating trade, and pursuing global peace. The latest drama will look like a sideshow soon enough.
Plenty of reasons exist to feel energized in Washington right now. The rumored collapse of MAGA isn’t one of them.
Blaze News: FBI, DOJ Epstein memo sparks right-wing outrage: ‘Nobody is believing this’
Blaze News contributor Mike Howell: The Epstein memo is a joke — and the joke’s on us
Blaze News, July 1: Is the FBI salvageable? Here’s what bureau insiders have to say
Blaze News: DeSantis has some serious political advice for Elon Musk to ensure a ‘monumental impact’
Blaze News: Drug middlemen launch attacks against MAGA allies pushing for health care reforms
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Opinion & analysis, Politics