U.S. President Donald Trump, wearing band-aids on his hand, attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 2, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Donald Trump's first presidency brought some major conflicts on the right. Never Trump conservatives like attorney George Conway, The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson and The Bulwark's Bill Kristol became unlikely allies of Democrats, while MAGA Republicans such as "War Room" host Steve Bannon and now-Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) declared their loyalty to Trump and were openly disdainful of pre-MAGA conservatism.
Meanwhile, some establishment Republicans who bashed Trump during his 2016 campaign — including Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) — flip flopped and became Trump supporters.
Now, Trump is almost 11 months into his second presidency, and major divisions on the right remain. The animosity between Never Trumpers and MAGA Republicans is as bitter as ever, but within the MAGA movement, there are plenty of clashes and divisions as well.
In an article published on December 16, BBC reporter Anthony Zurcher examines the battles taking place on the right — including MAGA infighting.
Zurcher emphasizes that it remains to be seen who will "become Trump's political heir and take control of the political movement that has reshaped American politics over the last decade."
"Trump stormed the White House as a political outsider," Zurcher observes. "The next Republican leader may follow a similar path…. When the November 2028 presidential election rolls around, American voters may not even want someone like Trump. Some public opinion polls suggest that the president may not be as popular as he once was…. Leadership of Trump's movement still represents the keys to the Republican empire, however, even if that empire has drastically changed in recent years."
Divisions within MAGA, Zurcher notes, are underscored by the "feud" between Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia).
"The president has, for the moment, largely tried to stay out of another bitter clash within conservative ranks over whether Nick Fuentes, a far-right political commentator and Holocaust denier, is welcome within the conservative movement," Zurcher observes. "It's a dispute that has roiled the influential Heritage Foundation and pitted some powerful right-wing commentators against each other."
But MAGA divisions and all, author Laura K. Field says there is little appetite for pre-MAGA conservatism in today's GOP.
Field told the BBC, "These things are not coming out of nowhere. They are forces in American politics that have been underground for a while, but have been just kind of fermenting…. The Trump movement is here to stay and there's no real likelihood of the old establishment returning with any sort of clout; that much is clear."
Read Anthony Zurcher's full BBC article at this link.
