Trump is no longer leading; he is being led by MAGA forces

A year after riding a MAGA— Make America Great Again — wave to win a second term as President of the U.S., Donald J. Trump is no longer leading the movement. He is being led by it. Mr. Trump is now being accused by many of his former followers of turning into a mouthpiece of what he once berated as the “Washington establishment”. The MAGA champions are not only questioning their idol, but are also finding common ground with progressive Democrats on pushing back against him.

On Tuesday (November 18, 2025), a bipartisan initiative by Republican and Democratic lawmakers forced their respective leaderships to fall in line with their call for complete transparency in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Epstein, a convicted sex-trafficker who died in custody by suicide in 2019, was linked to several leading political figures of the country, including Mr. Trump. The House of Representatives and the Senate voted with near unanimity for the release of investigative files related to Epstein. Mr. Trump, who had earlier resisted the release of the files, on November 17, made a volte-face and publicly called on House Republicans to vote for the Bill, saying “we have nothing to hide”.

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Earlier, Republican lawmakers who challenged Mr. Trump did so from conventional positions in opposition to MAGA, and they paid a heavy price for it. At least four Republican lawmakers who voted for Mr. Trump’s impeachment after the January 2021 Capitol Hill insurrection lost their primaries to MAGA-backed candidates. Among them was Liz Cheney, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney and herself a vocal neoconservative. Mr. Trump personally held the veto power on behalf of the MAGA world and few Republicans survived his ire.

His new challenge is coming from the political universe that created him and he helped create. In an emerging trend, Mr. Trump is echoing “establishment” positions and aligning more closely with traditional Republicans, while his base appears open to deserting him. Nothing proves this more than his bonding with South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, who will be facing a re-election battle in 2026.

A strident Trump critic in 2016, Mr. Graham later aligned with Mr. Trump. After the Capitol riot of MAGA followers, Mr. Graham declared he was “done with” Mr. Trump. A champion of all the causes that Mr. Trump and the MAGA crowd had questioned, Mr. Graham is now a favourite of the former. The President’s first fundraiser in the 2026 election cycle was a golf tournament for Mr. Graham, with him. And Mr. Graham is being challenged in the primary by a MAGA candidate promoted by influencer Tucker Carlson. There is no indication yet of the contest turning serious for Mr. Graham, but given the rapidity of populist revolts in the country that does not mean much.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican Congresswoman from Georgia, went head-on against Mr. Trump on the Epstein-files issue — and as it turned out, won the day. She has been an early champion of MAGA causes and Christian nationalism, but the President now calls her a “traitor”. She has taken on Mr. Trump, leading the Congressional campaign for the release of the Epstein files, alongside Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna. Mr. Massie also raises all issues that animate the MAGA base such as state accountability and transparency and opposition to wars.

Mr. Trump is also facing the ire of the MAGA base for his revised position that the H-1B visa programme is essential for the U.S. to bring in talent from foreign countries. Ms. Greene is now canvassing for legislation to restrict the H1B programme. She is also holding her ground, supported by Mr. Carlson, in opposing Israel’s Gaza war. Mr. Trump has bent on the Epstein issue, and it remains to be seen how he will deal with the revolt in the MAGA camp on Israel and the H-1B visa programme.