U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White House for Florida, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 20, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard
Salon columnist Amanda Marcotte and The New Republic's Greg Sargent spoke Friday for The Daily Blast podcast and agreed that President Donald Trump's "MAGA paradox" is getting increasingly complicated for him.
Marcotte explained that the MAGA paradox describes Trump loyalists' conflicting perceptions of him. According to Marcotte, they see Trump as "an all-mighty leader who knows everything and can do everything and is the greatest leader of all time ... also he can't ever be expected to know anything, be responsible for anything, etc[.]"
Sargent said that because Trump truly believes because the United States has "limitless strength" and "unlimited power," he also believes he has those powers "because he couldn't possibly be weak in any way."
"So, you can really see how he goes from there to not really paying close attention to little details, like what the war that he started is doing to our weapons stockpile," Sargent added.
The Washington Post on Thursday reported that Trump got into a heated exchange last week with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, saying he thought the depleted stockpile problem was fixed.
"He has a very childish vision of what American military might is," said Marcotte. "We definitely have a large military — one of the most expensive in the world. But it's not limitless."
She added that it also isn't strong enough that it can "crush enemies" the way Trump seems to believe it can.
Sargent said that what is striking is that at no point has anyone asked questions about why the president of the United States had no idea what the status of the U.S. munitions stockpile was.
Marcotte said that this goes back to the MAGA paradox. "He is blameless always, and always, he is like a baby," she said.
Sargent said that it appears "Trump's child brain associates small munitions stockpiles with a weak presidency. So he knows he must instantly say, 'our munitions stockpiles are very, very big,' which he thinks will show that he's very, very strong."
Because Trump "is a weak and pathetic figure," it turns out that the manufactured power that motivated MAGA has become "a ridiculous over read. They're all like those cartoon characters who run off of a cliff and look down and realize there's nothing under them anymore."
Marcotte said that most in Trump's orbit would never have the intelligence or experience to ever have such a high-profile position normally. She explained that there is political science research about why there is so much incompetence in authoritarian regimes.
"Donald Trump only values loyalty and the willingness to flatter him. So a lot of people who would never — on any planet would Pete Hegseth be the Defense Secretary for a competent president. I mean, the man was a weekend Fox News host," Marcotte laughed. "And you can just go down the list."
She added that she believes many of these officials have convinced themselves that MAGA is here to stay because the alternative — "looking in the mirror and realizing they're taking this job because they know this is their only pathway to success — is kind of a really painful admission."
"They all need therapy. Lots and lots of therapy," she said.