Trump puts 'MAGA voters last'

Donald Trump's most loyal MAGA followers long claimed that his policies would work out if he did not have to deal with so many constraints, but according to a new analysis from The Hill, that wish came true in 2025 and saw the president put "MAGA voters last."

"The idea that the president was held back in his first term by Democrats, fellow Republicans, the Supreme Court, the experts working in government, and even the pesky Constitution was MAGA’s way of moving the goalposts," Hill contributor Jos Joseph wrote on Wednesday. "Yeah, he could do what he wants to do when we give him almost unlimited power."

As he returned to the White House in 2025, he finally had the conditions to govern unrestrained: Republicans had secured majorities in the House and Senate, the conservative majority Supreme Court regularly ruled in his favor and his Cabinet was staffed with officials less likely to try and rein him in. It was, as Joseph described it, "the MAGA voters dream come true."

Despite that, he argued, the MAGA base of middle and working-class voters has yet to see any benefits from Trump's leadership. Food and insurance prices, which Trump pledged to start lowering immediately, are still increasing. While the economy seems to be growing by some metrics, it is being driven almost exclusively by spending increases from the country's wealthiest. The hope that Trump would keep the US out of more foreign wars has also evaporated, with the president announcing strikes in Nigeria on Christmas Day and continuing to threaten an escalated conflict with Venezuela.

"It is time for middle-class and working-class MAGA voters to see that America First put MAGA voters last," Joseph wrote. "The bad news for MAGA voters is that Trump’s acting like a clown doesn’t put money into your wallet, feed your family, or provide you with security. The worse news is that the worst might still come."

While supporters hoped that Trump would do away with Obamacare and offer a better alternative, he is poised to instead let premiums skyrocket in cost with the end of enhanced subsidies, "so that his family and his buddies can get rich." Despite Trump's much-repeated claim to be putting "America First," he dished out a $20 billion bailout to Argentina. His trade policies were so disastrous for American farmers that he had to pay another bailout to them, to the tune of $12 billion.

"Instead of accusing Trump critics of being deranged, it is time that MAGA voters do a little soul searching," Joseph added. "Unless you are in the top 10 percent driving the economy, what could you possibly be waiting for to happen that hasn’t already happened. Trump told you he would fleece you. To wait and see if he won’t in 2026 is the epitome of Trump Derangement Syndrome."