Latest / The Front / Donald Trump’s massive MAGA break-up

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Donald Trump’s massive MAGA break-up · The Front

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  Speaker 1: From the Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
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  Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, November nineteen, twenty twenty five. We can lift
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  Speaker 1: a million Australians out of the welfare trap. That's the
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  Speaker 1: vision from Noel Pearson's Cape York Partnership, which is celebrating
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  Speaker 1: its twentieth anniversary with a new vision that says finishing
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  Speaker 1: year twelve should be the goal for the most disadvantaged
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  Speaker 1: Indigenous Australians, new migrants and kids from poor communities. Part
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  Speaker 1: of the solution boarding school scholarships to keep vulnerable children
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  Speaker 1: away from trouble. That stories live now at the Australian
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  Speaker 1: dot com AU wacky, a lunatic, a traitor and worst
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  Speaker 1: of all, a Republican in name only rhino. These are
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  Speaker 1: insults Donald Trump has thrown at his rivals for years,
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  Speaker 1: but now well his target is a woman pivotal to
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  Speaker 1: Trump's Make America Great Again movement, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor
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  Speaker 1: Green and Trump have fallen out big time over his
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  Speaker 1: new role as international peacemaker, his concessions on tariffs and jobs, and,
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  Speaker 1: most importantly, the swirling Jeffrey Epstein drama today, who really
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  Speaker 1: owns MAGA and why is Donald Trump so very angry?
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  Speaker 2: I am withdrawing my support an endorsement of Congresswoman Marjorie
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  Speaker 2: Taylor Green of the Great State of Georgia. All I
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  Speaker 2: see wacky Marjorie do is complain? Complain, complain?
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  Speaker 1: Guess who? Donald Trump's been busy on truth social and
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  Speaker 1: we couldn't resist bringing this post to life with our
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  Speaker 1: favorite AI generator, Donald Voice.
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  Speaker 2: She has told many people that she is upset that
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  Speaker 2: I don't return her phone calls anymore. But with two
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  Speaker 2: hundred and nineteen congressmen and women, fifty three US Senators,
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  Speaker 2: twenty four Cabinet members, almost two hundred countries, and an
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  Speaker 2: otherwise normal life to lead, I can't take a ranting
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  Speaker 2: lunatics call every day.
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  Speaker 1: Joe Kelly is The Australian's correspondent in Washington, DC. Joe,
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  Speaker 1: there's a massive political breakup going on in the United States.
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  Speaker 1: It's Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Green. She's a Republican
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  Speaker 1: congresswoman from Georgia. She's a central figure in the Make
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  Speaker 1: America Great Again movement? Why are they breaking up?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, it's a fascinating question. Do you ask Claire.
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  Speaker 3: The first thing is Marjorie Taylor Green is very much
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  Speaker 3: a staunch defender of this make America Great Again, America
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  Speaker 3: First agenda that was championed by Donald Trump. She is
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  Speaker 3: a hard right conservative populist. She really got into politics
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  Speaker 3: because of Donald Trump. But they've had a lot of
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  Speaker 3: recent disagreements, and essentially it boils down to Marjorie Taylor
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  Speaker 3: Green thinking that Donald Trump has taken his eye off
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  Speaker 3: the ball and he's not prosecuting his America First agenda
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  Speaker 3: or implementing it, at least not to the satisfaction of
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  Speaker 3: Marjorie Taylor Green.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, Donald Trumps. He usually yells at everybody, so
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  Speaker 4: we're all used to it. But he's the president of
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  Speaker 4: the United States. And here's something you all may not
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  Speaker 4: know about me. I think a lot of people on
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  Speaker 4: the left are learning that. When I ran for Congress
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  Speaker 4: in twenty twenty, I ran criticizing Republicans and Democrats equally
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  Speaker 4: because I come from a working class family, ran a
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  Speaker 4: construction company for over twenty years, and I feel like
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  Speaker 4: the government has failed all of us, and it purely
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  Speaker 4: discussed me. It really does.
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  Speaker 3: She thinks he's spending too much time on his foreign agenda,
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  Speaker 3: so she's been critical of his initiatives in the foreign arena,
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  Speaker 3: including his handling of the Middle East conflict. She's been
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  Speaker 3: very critical of Israel. She said that Israel is committing
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  Speaker 3: a genocide in Gaza. She's been critical really of the
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  Speaker 3: influence that Israel has over the US political system. She
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  Speaker 3: opposed the bombing in Iran. She wants to see America
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  Speaker 3: avoid foreign entanglements and wants to ensure Donald Trump upholds
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  Speaker 3: that principle. So she was very disappointed recently when President
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  Speaker 3: Trump met with the leader of Syria, Ahmad al Shara.
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  Speaker 3: She said that that would have been a very disappointing
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  Speaker 3: event for people who had served in the US military,
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  Speaker 3: particularly given his former terrorist links. On the domestic agenda,
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  Speaker 3: she thinks Donald Trump is making missteps as well. She
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  Speaker 3: is concerned about the cost of living crunch, the affordability crisis,
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  Speaker 3: which is still ongoing here in America. Inflation is still elevated,
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  Speaker 3: running about three percent in the year to September. She
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  Speaker 3: was concerned about health insurance premiums going up. She actually
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  Speaker 3: supported the extension of those enhanced Obamacare subsidies which were
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  Speaker 3: unveiled back in twenty twenty one, so that was a
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  Speaker 3: very obvious disagreement between her and the president. She's also
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  Speaker 3: critical of Trump defending the large numbers of foreign students,
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  Speaker 3: Chinese students attending American universities. So there's a diverse range
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  Speaker 3: of issues, but the big one is the Epstein files,
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  Speaker 3: and Marjorie Taylor Green has really championed the release of
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  Speaker 3: the Epstein files and has supported trying to compel the
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  Speaker 3: Department of Justice to release all the details that it
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  Speaker 3: possibly can.
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  Speaker 1: Democrats released a bunch of Epstein emails last week, and
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  Speaker 1: then Trump indicated that he's supportive now of release of more.
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  Speaker 1: Where are those files at now, Joe, I mean, we
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  Speaker 1: talk about the Epstein files, God knows how many of
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  Speaker 1: them there are. Are we actually now talking about the
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  Speaker 1: release of the kind of documents that Marjorie Taylor Green
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  Speaker 1: and her supporters want to see.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, so there's an Epstein Act now which is going
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  Speaker 3: to be voted on in the House setting out exactly
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  Speaker 3: all the sorts of documents that they want to see released.
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  Speaker 3: So this is what Marjorie Taylor Green wants. She supports
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  Speaker 3: this particular piece of legislation. Donald Trump, of course, tried
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  Speaker 3: really hard to prevent this bell from going to a vote.
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  Speaker 3: Donald Trump, at the last minute, despite trying to prevent
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  Speaker 3: the vote, has felt that he's needed to backflip, and
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  Speaker 3: he is now encouraged Republicans in the House to support
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  Speaker 3: this act. So this is an eleventh hour reversal designed
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  Speaker 3: to ensure that the Republicans who were likely to support
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  Speaker 3: this bill en mass would not be seeing as a
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  Speaker 3: defying him. That was the outcome that Trump desperately wanted
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  Speaker 3: to avoid. And clearly, I think Marjorie Taylor Green had
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  Speaker 3: become a symbol of this defiance from Republicans, and I
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  Speaker 3: think probably what made it all the more galling for
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  Speaker 3: Donald Trump is that Marjorie Taylor Green has been such
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  Speaker 3: a strong champion of America first, and I think he
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  Speaker 3: probably didn't want to see someone else laying claim to
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  Speaker 3: a portion of his Maga constituency.
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  Speaker 1: Well, he says, in fact, that Maga is him. You
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  Speaker 1: know that he created it.
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  Speaker 2: And forget Mago was my idea. Mega was nobody else's idea.
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  Speaker 2: I know what Maga wants better than anybody else, and
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  Speaker 2: Maga wants to see our country thrive.
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  Speaker 1: This has gotten Napoleonic vibes about it, I think, Joe,
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  Speaker 1: what is the truth? Now? Do you think about the
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  Speaker 1: making America Great Again idea and movement? Is it still
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  Speaker 1: closely associated with Donald Trump? Is it right for him
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  Speaker 1: to say that this is his or has it now
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  Speaker 1: grown beyond him into a political movement that he can't control?
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  Speaker 3: Well, I think two things can be true at the
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  Speaker 3: same time. Clear, So I think Donald Trump is instrumental
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  Speaker 3: in developing this really influential political movement in America, and
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  Speaker 3: he's really proud of this. He've viewsed this as one
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  Speaker 3: of his great achievements, and you've seen that in his
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  Speaker 3: comments recently where he said it was his idea. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: he honestly feels that he can dictate the passions of
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  Speaker 3: this movement and then harness that movement to really advance
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  Speaker 3: his own political interests. So he is concerned that he
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  Speaker 3: retains that ability, retains control over that movement. So this
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  Speaker 3: is a new and powerful coalition he's managed to pull together.
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  Speaker 3: But Trump won't be around forever, and so there is
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  Speaker 3: an issue now about what happens to this political constituency
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  Speaker 3: after Trump. You know, what does the magabase look like
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  Speaker 3: in a post Trump world? And this happens more quickly
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  Speaker 3: than you might think. So, we have the midterms next year.
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  Speaker 3: Things aren't looking that good for Donald Trump. It's usual
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  Speaker 3: that the administration loses the House. In fact, in recent memory,
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  Speaker 3: it's only been George W. Bush in two thousand and
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  Speaker 3: two that managed to hold the House in the midterms.
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  Speaker 3: So if things don't go well for Trump, we really
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  Speaker 3: are talking about this new phase of politics coming, you know,
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  Speaker 3: by the end of next year. Claire, So, I think
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  Speaker 3: Donald Trump has this at the back of his mind.
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  Speaker 3: I also think it's probably why he continually flirts with
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  Speaker 3: this idea of a third term, to keep people guessing
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  Speaker 3: and ensure that he's seen to have potency and currency.
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  Speaker 3: But at some point, I think Donald Trump will address
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  Speaker 3: this idea of a succession plan for his movement and
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  Speaker 3: who is best to carry the torch of trump Ism
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  Speaker 3: into the future. Now what that looks like at the moment,
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  Speaker 3: I don't know, but I think Donald Trump will be
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  Speaker 3: very protective of his legacy.
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  Speaker 1: Coming up the Big temptation. Donald Trump has fallen victim
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  Speaker 1: to one of the insults he's thrown at Marjorie Taylor Green.
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  Speaker 1: Apart from traitor and wacky and lunatic, is rhino publican
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  Speaker 1: in name only. That kind of made me smile, Joe,
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  Speaker 1: because that was one of the insults that Trump and
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  Speaker 1: his supporters throughout the old school Republicans, the people who
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  Speaker 1: they would have characterized as inside the Beltway, the establishment,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the swamp. They talked about draining the swamp.
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  Speaker 1: She was elected to Congress in twenty twenty on this
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  Speaker 1: wave of trump Ism, But she's different to Trump.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, is it going to be true that the
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  Speaker 4: child pedophilia and the elites and the Washington DC, is
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  Speaker 4: that what we're really going to see come out?
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  Speaker 3: Is it true?
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  Speaker 4: Is the type of corruption we're going to see come out?
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  Speaker 4: Is it going to be Satanic worship that possibly all
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  Speaker 4: these people are involved in.
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  Speaker 1: Marjorie Taylor Grain is a loud and proud anti Semite.
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  Speaker 1: She believes in QAnon, you know, conspiracy theories about pedophiles.
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  Speaker 1: That obviously feeds her views about Epstein.
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  Speaker 4: I would say, I would like to say, humbly, I'm
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  Speaker 4: sorry for taking part and the toxic politics. It's very
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  Speaker 4: bad for our country.
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  Speaker 1: But what does it tell us about the mood that
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  Speaker 1: Trump exploited or created to get himself elected? And this
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  Speaker 1: new Donald Trump that we're seeing in his second too,
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  Speaker 1: where he is the international peacemaker, he's a statesman. He's
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  Speaker 1: acknowledging that Americans can't do all the highly skilled jobs
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  Speaker 1: that are needed for sophisticated manufacturing, for example.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that's right, Claire. So Donald Trump took
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  Speaker 3: over the Republican Party and he's reshaped it. He's purged
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  Speaker 3: the party, and he's managed to do that incredibly effectively,
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  Speaker 3: and effectively rule over the Republicans in Congress with a
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  Speaker 3: bit of an iron fist. And actually he's been very
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  Speaker 3: critical of the old establishment of Republicans. I was at
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  Speaker 3: an event only a few months ago, a National Conservative conference,
• 13:01
  Speaker 3: where the United States Trade Representative Jamison Greer really unleashed
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  Speaker 3: on the George W. Bush era, saying that families in
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  Speaker 3: America got left behind, they misjudged the China trade relationship
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  Speaker 3: and the China threat. And I was struck by how
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  Speaker 3: ferocious that criticism was. So this was really an internal
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  Speaker 3: revolution of the Republican Party on the conservative side of politics.
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  Speaker 3: I think what makes Marjorie Taylor Green so interesting is
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  Speaker 3: that she is part of that movement. So this is
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  Speaker 3: a rift within, really within that new remaking of the
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  Speaker 3: Republican Party that Donald Trump has overseen, and I think
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  Speaker 3: that's why he's been clearly so engaged and singling her
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  Speaker 3: out by name and numerous posts on his truth social platform.
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  Speaker 3: He wants to ensure that he is the one who
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  Speaker 3: has seen to be the true representative of the movement.
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  Speaker 3: But you made this point about some of the decisions
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  Speaker 3: that Trump has made. Now, I think it's a case
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  Speaker 3: of him getting mugged by reality a little bit. We
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  Speaker 3: are seeing him recalibrate his political strategy now, Claire. So
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  Speaker 3: he's back down on some of his reciprocal tariffs because
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  Speaker 3: they were increasing prices for everyday Americans. So he's tried
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  Speaker 3: to seize control over the political agenda. The Epstein reversal
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  Speaker 3: is an example of that. His decision on tariffs is
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  Speaker 3: an example of that, and his public criticism of Marjorie
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  Speaker 3: Taylor Green is also another criticism of that. I'd add
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  Speaker 3: one final comment, which is Trump's interest in hosting foreign leaders.
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  Speaker 3: I think is very much in keeping with his view
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  Speaker 3: of the role of the United States president, and I
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  Speaker 3: think that's one of the things that he very much
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  Speaker 3: likes about the job. All the foreign leaders coming to
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  Speaker 3: pay tribute and kiss the ring and unveil their various
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  Speaker 3: offerings to him on an effort to try and ensure
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  Speaker 3: that relations remain as steady as they possibly can so
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  Speaker 3: while he had the American First agenda, I think that
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  Speaker 3: this is always one of the perks, or rather, I
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  Speaker 3: should say challenges, of the job that he's always been
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  Speaker 3: attracted to.
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  Speaker 1: Joe Kelly is The Australian's Washington DC correspondent. You can
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: read all Joe's analysis and reporting, plus the best from
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: around the world, right now at the Australian dot com
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: dot au