Infighting Erupts in MAGA Movement as Trump’s Inner Circle Faces Deep Divisions
Former President Donald Trump asked a New York judge to set aside his hush money trial conviction. /Seth Wenig Via Reuters
Donald Trump hasn’t yet stepped back into the White House, but internal feuds within his MAGA movement are already erupting into public view. The discord underscores the fragile alliances in a movement more defined by loyalty to Trump than by shared ideology, wrote Washington Post columnist Aaron Blake.
“The MAGA movement has always been a loosely stitched-together confederation led by a man with relatively few ideological convictions,” Blake explained. “It and he have always been much more animated by Trump the man than any particular set of ideals. And because Trump has proved so malleable, there is a premium on being the one in his ear.”
Blake noted that this competition for influence is fueling infighting among key MAGA figures. Steve Bannon, a key architect of Trump’s 2016 victory, has launched a public offensive against Elon Musk, the tech mogul who spent hundreds of millions supporting Trump’s 2024 campaign and was later appointed to lead a government-efficiency task force.
Bannon has harshly criticized Musk, calling him “truly evil” and accusing him of having “the maturity of a child,” even likening Musk’s behavior to that of sex offenders. “Bannon promised that he would get Musk cast out of Trump’s orbit by Inauguration Day,” Blake wrote.
Meanwhile, cultural conservatives within the MAGA coalition have turned on other prominent figures, such as former Trump attorney Alina Habba and right-wing influencer Benny Johnson, for their public defense of controversial internet personality Andrew Tate, who faces human trafficking charges in Romania.
At the same time, MAGA loyalists have lashed out at Vice President-elect J.D. Vance for suggesting some January 6 defendants should not be pardoned. Blake argued that these battles reflect deeper fractures within Trump’s base.
“Many of the fights described above also betray very fundamental and intransigent disagreements in his base — between nationalism and business interests, between Christian conservatism and provocation, and between the influencer class pushing for clicks and policy-minded folks pushing for legislative wins,” he wrote.
Although Trump has previously embraced conflict within his circle, these divisions could complicate his presidency given the razor-thin Republican majorities in Congress. “Expect these to be the first of many fights,” Blake concluded, predicting further turmoil as Trump’s second term begins.
