One year after his election victory, Donald Trump is under great pressure – not from the Democrats, but from his own “Make America Great Again” base. On several topics she refuses him increasing following.
Since Donald Trump’s brilliant election victory in November 2024, the question in Washington has always been: What can the demoralized and divided Democrats do to counter this presidential dominance in his second term?
But a year after his triumph, the American president is suddenly under great pressure, not from the Democrats, but from within his own ranks. This is not just a few, negligible Republicans. Trump appears increasingly to misjudge his own “Make America Great Again” base.
The latest polls currently show Donald Trump with only around 42 percent approval and around 55 percent disapproval. In March of this year, 48 percent of those surveyed supported his administration, and the same number rejected it back then.
The most prominent trigger for Trump’s crisis with his base is currently his handling of the so-called Epstein files. Convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who according to official reports committed suicide in prison in 2019, was accused of abusing girls and young women and of grooming celebrities. Although Trump promised during the election campaign that he would publish the files in full if he won, including emails, witness interviews and other documents, he is now conspicuously defiant in refusing to do so now.
But there is more to Trump’s increasing loss of trust in the MAGA movement than a desire for clarity on the Epstein matter. It’s about economic uncertainty, a possible military escalation in the Caribbean and also migration policy irritations.
For a significant number of supporters of Trump’s MAGA movement, the Epstein case has long been a symbol of elite impunity, cover-ups and abuse of power. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has long publicly warned that Trump will lose his base if he does not ensure the full release of the Epstein files.
A motion for a resolution in the House of Representatives is now forcing Parliament to vote on the release of the documents this week. Trump’s behind-the-scenes efforts to delay or prevent the vote seem to parts of his movement to be a clear attempt to thwart transparency.
The fact that Trump has publicly broken with his long-time supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene and is threatening other dissidents further reinforces this impression. A bitter power struggle has broken out over Trump’s influence over Republican MPs. Because of Trump’s break with her, Greene says she is now receiving death threats. However, she is supported by her own supporters and by dozens of women who were victims of Epstein.
