Unease is growing within President Donald Trump’s MAGA coalition, as longtime allies and prominent conservative voices warn that his second term has drifted from the economic and domestic priorities that animated his rise.
That message was delivered bluntly during a recent White House meeting, where conservative pollster Mark Mitchell of Rasmussen Reports confronted Trump over what supporters see as a widening gap between rhetoric and results. Mitchell pointed to Trump’s raised fist after the July 2024 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, a moment that became emblematic of defiance for the movement.
“Sir, you got shot at the Butler rally… You said, ‘Fight, fight, fight.’ But nobody ever clarified what that means… And right now, you’re fight-fight-fighting Marjorie Taylor Greene, and not actually fight-fight-fighting for Americans,” Mitchell told The Washington Post.
Mitchell urged the administration to pivot toward “pragmatic economic populism,” arguing that many core supporters feel Washington’s entrenched interests remain intact while everyday financial pressures persist.
Similar complaints are surfacing across the MAGA spectrum. Critics cite an administration focused heavily on foreign affairs, increasingly close ties to wealthy tech and business leaders, hesitation to release additional Jeffrey Epstein files, and limited progress on promises to lower living costs and carry out mass deportations.
Mitchell also faulted the White House for declaring victory too early on the economy. “The very first thing they shouldn’t have done is lower gas prices one dollar and then say, ‘The Golden Age is here,’” he continued.
Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia who resigned from Congress last month after a public break with Trump, described herself as a proxy for grassroots sentiment. “I’m an early indicator — I’m like a bellwether,” Greene said. While she emphasized that most supporters still want Trump to succeed, she added that “the base is jaded.” Voters know what they elected him to do, she said, and “they’re aware he’s not doing it.”
Greene pushed back sharply on Trump’s dismissal of affordability concerns as a partisan fabrication. “No, it’s not, and the health care situation is serious. It’s dire… This is a country driving 80 miles an hour at a brick wall on Jan. 1,” she said, referring to expiring health care subsidies.
White House aides acknowledge the criticism but describe it as cyclical. They say Trump plans to resume near-weekly rallies to highlight achievements and reconnect with supporters. At a recent Pennsylvania event, Trump again questioned affordability complaints before conceding that prices had been too high.
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the administration, saying Trump is “delivering on his core campaign promises across the board” and “fighting every day to make America greater than ever before.”
Some allies downplayed the unrest. Activist Jack Posobiec said demands for “more” come from a loud online minority, while podcaster Isabel Brown described the debate as “a signal of a healthy conservative debate.”
Former adviser Stephen Bannon suggested a shift may already be underway, saying Trump “is pivoting into a much harder populist nationalist stance” on deportations and tariffs.
With the 2026 midterms approaching, the question is whether the internal discontent will sap enthusiasm or force a recalibration.
