'Knife in the back': GOP strategist says Trump 'tearing MAGA apart' is a 'major problem'

16 July

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he arrives at the White House, in Washington, U.S., June 9, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein

President Donald Trump has directed his fury inward, this time targeting his own Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement for insisting that his administration release documents related to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. One Republican strategist is saying this dispute is creating a significant fracture within his political support.

A report in NBC News published Wednesday noted that the president’s recent comments represent a notable escalation in a rift between Trump and segments of his MAGA base.

While some conservative media voices have fallen in line with the push to drop the Epstein story, others — including high-profile figures like Tucker Carlson, Laura Loomer and Steve Bannon — remain vociferous, demanding release of more documents.

In a scathing Truth Social post on Wednesday morning, Trump publicly rebuked his followers for continuing to pursue the Epstein saga.

“Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work,” he wrote. “Don’t even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don’t want their support anymore.”

Later in the Oval Office, Trump claimed he had “lost faith in certain people,” accusing them of being “duped by the Democrats” over the Epstein files — even though Republicans were leading calls for more transparency over the issue.

The report said that these attacks from the president are "tearing MAGA apart."

An unnamed Republican strategist, with direct knowledge of Trump’s operation, told NBC: “This is a major problem and could hurt turnout in the midterms. It signals betrayal to those who believed the president would expose the deep state. His team made promises, then doubled down.”

They continued: “For the base that believes the deep state is real and that Epstein was part of it, this feels like the ultimate knife in the back.”

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