President Donald Trump addresses the nation on the shooting of two National Guard soldiers in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, November 26, 2025, from his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)
Former pastor John Pavlovitz writes that "all brutal empires fall," and the MAGA movement is no different, as signs of its inevitable demise are "everywhere."
"Every time the pendulum has swung wildly toward barbarism in a society, it has invariably come back with even greater opposite force to bend the arc of the moral universe back toward justice again," he writes.
Pavlovitz says that students of history may recognize that the end is likely nigh for MAGA.
"And history tells us that, despite the story in our heads or the one that comes through the partisan propaganda that we’re continually saturated by, our brutal national nightmare is likely in its final hours," he writes.
"Few cults survive the passing of their leaders, and MAGA will not outlive the departure of Donald Trump from the White House or from this earth, whichever comes first," he adds.
Concerns and speculation regarding Trump's health, particularly signs of aging and potential cognitive decline, have been widely discussed, but the White House maintains he is in "exceptional physical health." Medical experts and political commentators have pointed to observable incidents and a reduced public schedule as potential indicators of decline, and a recent push for results of an MRI scan in October have exacerbated the speculation.
"His physical attrition and mental degradation can no longer be hidden or distracted from. His body is rapidly breaking down, laboring with simple tasks, hemorrhaging energy, and riddled with the unmistakable tells of a man whose systems are failing," Pavlovitz writes.
"His already hate-addled mind is becoming more and more clouded in an ever-thickening haze of deterioration, drugs, and almost certain dementia. His outbursts have grown more impulsive, his decisions have become more desperate, and the once indestructible facade of strength is steadily crumbling. The strongman is withering," he adds.
Noting that Trump is a lame duck president, Pavlovitz says his "once fierce death grip on political power is giving way to neutered impotence and growing irrelevance" as much of what has built him up is starting to collapse.
"The rapacious brutality of his regime is being exposed and condemned. The groundswell of public opposition is growing louder and more organized," Pavlovitz notes.
"The defections from his party are accelerating, their unwavering allegiance weakening. His cockroach accomplices are scattering in the raking light of coming accountability. His supposed social media army of support is proving to be made largely of foreign bot factories," he adds.
Pavlovitz surmises that Trump is on the verge of political expiration, writing, "He has peaked as a galvanizing presence, and there’s no GOP spin doctoring that can change that."
"He gave people permission to revel in the worst of their instincts, to give loud voice to their hidden hatreds, to discard their religious convictions, and to fully abandon empathy and decency," he adds.
Pavlovitz says that once Trump is gone, so will be MAGA, but, he says, they won't "suddenly awaken from their cultic stupor and join the rest of us in benevolent and interdependent humanity."
However, he writes, they will "never again have someone who embodies the zeitgeist of grotesque impulses the way Trump has."
And while the coming days won't be painless, as his supporters may become "more violent, more desperate, and more committed to destruction," Pavlovitz warns, they know their time is short.
"That should strengthen our resolve, lift our spirits, and sturdy our steps," he says. "Take heart, good people. Time, gravity, and term limits are undefeated, and one way or another, the end of MAGA is near," he writes.
"And the dawn of the promise of America will break once again," he predicts.