Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump is usually pretty careful about keeping his base happy. At least, the more visible and audible parts of it. But recently he has done a few things that have at least annoyed some of his supporters. No one is bolting yet, but it's something to keep an eye on.
First up is immigration—or more accurately, emigration. The base wants all the undocumented immigrants to turn into undocumented emigrants, voluntarily or otherwise. But farmers, especially corporate farmers, have told Trump that if farm workers are deported, food production will collapse and food prices will skyrocket. He knows what inflation did to Joe Biden's presidency and doesn't want that. He is already starting to cut back on raids at farms, even though they are a target-rich environment. Same is true of hotels, the larger ones of which are all owned by big, powerful corporations.
Trump's comments in Iowa about protecting some migrants have led to intense pushback from some MAGA figures, like Steve Bannon, Joe Rogan, and Charlie Kirk. They are yelling that Trump is giving "amnesty" to migrant workers. Some MAGA influencers have picked this up and let loose on social media platforms. Trump seriously doesn't like being accused of granting amnesty, but as long as he exempts major groups of immigrants from becoming emigrants, it will continue. He also understands that native-born Americans are not going to work for wages the undocumented workers will work for, so, as we also noted yesterday, he is going to have to continue to leave farm workers alone or face the heat from inflation.
A second problem is Jeffrey Epstein, as we wrote earlier this week. The administration released video footage from outside Epstein's jail cell the night he died, but the digital clock on screen jumps suddenly from 11:58:58 p.m. to 12:00:00 a.m. The conspiracy-minded base is worried about what happened in the "missing minute." Was Epstein murdered to keep him quiet about who hung out with him and what those people did to underage girls?
A third problem is Ukraine. Trump has criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he would send more weapons to Ukraine. Much of the base supports the Godless Communism in Russia and doesn't want Ukraine to be free. Or something.
In any event, a person close to Trump said (on background): "I will tell you right now, MAGA has never been in more turmoil than the last 72 hours." Will anything come of this? Trump hopes that all his talk about tariffs may deflect attention from farm workers, Epstein, and Ukraine, but the base is not really interested in tariffs, so it might not work. (V)