WASHINGTON- During the election campaign, Donald Trump did not regret putting America first. He promised to secure the country's borders, strengthen the national workforce and be tough on countries he thought were taking advantage of the United States.
Now, ten months into his second term, the president faces backlash from some conservatives who say he is too focused on foreign affairs, whether seeking regime change in Venezuelabrokering peace agreements in Ukraine and Loop or extend a Currency exchange for 20,000 million dollars for Argentina. Criticism has increased in recent days after Trump expressed support for granting more visas to foreign students and skilled immigrant workers.
The cracks in the MAGA movement, which have been more pronounced in recent weeks, underscore how Trump's once impenetrable political base is faltering as the president appears to take a more global approach to governing.
“I have to look at the presidency as a global situation, not a local one,” Trump said this week when asked to address the criticism at an Oval Office event. “We could have a world on fire where wars would come to our shores very easily if we had a bad president.”
For supporters of Trump's MAGA movement, the conflict is forcing some to weigh loyalty to an “America First” ideology over a president they have long supported and who, in some cases, inspired them to engage in the political process.
“I am against foreign aid, foreign wars and sending a single dollar to foreign countries,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who has become more critical of Trump's policies in recent weeks, said in a social media post Wednesday. “I am America First and America Only. This is my way and there is no other way.”
Beyond America-first concerns, some Trump supporters are frustrated with him for resisting the Revelations about deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his network of powerful friends, including Trump. A group of House Republicans, for example, helped lead an effort to force a vote to demand more disclosures about Epstein's files from the Justice Department.
“When they protect pedophiles, when they waste our budget, when they start wars abroad, I'm sorry, I can't accept that,” Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said in an interview with CNN. “And at home, people agree with me. They get it, even the most ardent Trump supporters get it.”
Asked to respond to criticism Trump has faced in recent weeks, the White House said the president was focused on implementing “economic policies that reduce costs, raise real wages, and secure trillions in investments to be made and hired in America.”
Mike Madrid, a “never Trump” Republican consultant, believes the Epstein scandal has accelerated a Republican backlash that has been brewing as a result of Trump deviating from his campaign promises.
“They are turning against him and it is a sign that his inviolable trust is gone,” Madrid said.
The MAGA movement was not led by political ideology, but rather by “loyalty to the leader,” Madrid said. Once trust in Trump fades, “it’s all over.”
Criticism of Trump becomes common
Tension within the party has also manifested itself in conservative and traditional media, where the president's policies have been questioned.
In a recent Fox News interview with Laura Ingraham, Trump was pressed about a plan to grant student visas to hundreds of thousands of Chinese students, a move that would mark a shift away from actions taken by his administration this year to crack down on foreign students.
“I think it's good to have outside countries,” Trump said. “Look, I want to be able to get along with the world.”
In that same interview, Trump said he supports granting H-1B visas to skilled foreign workers because the United States does not have workers with “certain talents.”
“You can't take people out of an unemployment line and say, 'I'm going to put you in a factory where we're going to make missiles,'” Trump argued.
In September, Trump imposed a $100,000 fee on H-1B visas for skilled workers, a move that caused confusion among businesses, immigration lawyers and H-1B visa holders. Before Trump's order, the visa program had exposed a gap between the president's supporters in the tech industry, which relies on the program, and immigration hardliners who want the United States to invest in the American workforce.
A day after Trump expressed support for the visa program, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem added fuel to the immigration debate by saying the administration is fast-tracking immigrants' path to citizenship.
“More people are being naturalized under this administration than ever before,” Noem told Fox News this week.
Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and close Trump ally, said the administration's position was “disappointing.”
“How is that a good thing? We're supposed to expel foreigners and not let them stay,” Loomer said.
Polls increase tension
As polls show Americans are increasingly frustrated with the economy, some conservatives are increasingly blaming Trump for not doing enough to create more jobs and lower the cost of living.
Greene, the Georgia Republican, said Thursday on “The Sean Spicer Show” that Trump and his administration are “misleading” people when they say prices are going down.
“It actually makes people angry because they know what they're paying for at the grocery store,” he said, urging Republicans to “show that we're in the trenches with them” instead of denying their experience.
While Trump has maintained that the economy is strong, administration officials have begun talking about pushing new economic policies. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said this week that the administration would work to give consumers more purchasing power, saying, “We're going to fix it right away.”
“We understand that people understand, when they look at their pockets to go to the grocery store, that there is still work to be done,” Hassett said.
The recognition comes after this month's elections in key states, in which Republicans were soundly defeated, made clear that raising prices was a priority for many Americans. The results also showed that Latino voters were moving away from the Republican Party amid growing concerns about the economy.
As Republicans try to refocus on addressing affordability, Trump has continued to blame former President Biden for economic problems.
“The cost and INFLATION were higher under Sleepy Joe Biden's administration than they are now,” Trump said in a social media post on Friday. He insisted that under his administration costs are “falling.”
