TEHRAN – Picture a bonfire briefly blazing across the American night, seemingly ready to burn the old order and warm the forgotten. In 2016, it seemingly roared, improbably carrying Donald Trump from ridiculed outsider to victor, swiftly sweeping aside the GOP establishment with a raw cry against endless wars, open borders, and elite corruption.

The white working class, Rust Belt laborers, disillusioned veterans, and young men scrolling through a world that felt rigged against them finally felt seen.

Trump’s Electoral College upset over Hillary Clinton felt like destiny. Eight years later, in 2024, the fire blazed again even while it seemed the establishment was trying to put Trump in jail: a decisive 312–226 rout of Kamala Harris, a popular vote majority, and gains among minorities. Victory tasted sweeter than ever.

Yet here we are, scarcely a year into Trump’s second term, and the flames gutter. Polls show approval cratering to 38%—the lowest of his presidency—amid fury over stagnant wages, soaring costs, and a sense that the movement has been quietly hijacked.

MAGA, that unruly coalition of nationalists and populists, now lies fractured. It feels like we’ve reached the grim ending of Orwell’s Animal Farm—where supposed revolutionaries have seamlessly morphed into the very tyrants they once vowed to overthrow.

And at the heart of the rupture, whispering through online forums and podcast rants alike, is a phrase that captures the bitter disillusionment of a growing wing: “Israel did it.” 

Chapter 1: The Great Schism

The American right was never monolithic, but MAGA briefly forged it into something ferocious. Tucker Carlson recently distilled its essence into five pillars: put American citizens first, secure the borders, end pointless wars, revive real jobs, and defend free speech as liberty’s bedrock.

Today, those pillars teeter. One faction clings to them fiercely: young nationalists, paleoconservatives, libertarians—the “America First” purists who see global entanglements as the ultimate betrayal.

On the other side stand the entrenched ultraZionists and neoconservatives. Extremists like Mark Levin thunder against any critique of Israel. Senators such as Lindsey Graham remain ever eager to wage war across the Middle East. Commentators like Ben Shapiro frame unwavering support for Israel as moral clarity.

Donors such as Miriam Adelson funnel hundreds of millions, always laced with expectations. Tech billionaires like Larry Ellison buy up media outlets—both digital, like TikTok, and traditional, such as Paramount and CBS. Legislators like Randy Fine go so far as to celebrate Israel’s genocide while denouncing dissenters.

This is no mere policy spat. It is a civil war over the soul of the American right, with Israel as both symbol and weapon.

Chapter 2: The power which must not be named

How does a distant occupying young regime exert such gravitational pull on a supposed superpower? The answer is the carrot and the stick.

Campaign millions from AIPAC and megadonors—Adelson alone funneled over $200 million to pro-Israel candidates—serve as the carrot. Aspiring politicians pilgrimage to Jerusalem’s Wailing Wall, yarmulke perched for the obligatory photo. Loyalty pays.

The stick is swifter: question Israel and you risk instant smears of antisemitism, well-funded primary challengers, media annihilation, the sudden release of compromising material, and threats to your livelihood—or even your life.

Before October 7, 2023, right-wing Israel skeptics were exiles. Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza cracked that consensus wide open.

Images of suffering shifted the Overton Window; hating Israel, once fringe, surged among young conservatives. Polls in 2025 show Gen Z Republicans turning against endless aid faster than any demographic.

Trump’s record fed the fire. The Jerusalem (al-Quds) embassy move, Golan Heights recognition, Abraham Accords, $38 billion aid package, sanctions and aggression against Iran—all celebrated as triumphs, yet to the America First wing, they screamed prioritization of a foreign ally over domestic decay.

Domestically, anti-BDS laws and executive orders equating anti-Zionism with “antisemitism” chilled speech, contradicting America First principles.

Chapter 3: The defectors who lit the fuse

The rebellion has faces. One of them is Tucker Carlson. Once living comfortably in the shadows of the mainstream, he was targeted time and again for cancellation.

Even as his show topped the ratings, Fox pulled the plug. Yet from that defeat, he emerged reborn—no longer just a broadcaster, but the movement’s conscience.

His shift picked up after October 7, even though he mostly avoided the Israel question before. Now he’s interviewing critics of Israel, vehemently warning against aggression against Iran, criticizing “Christian Zionists” as if seized by a “brain virus,” and amplifying what the mainstream media considers controversial voices.

Nick Fuentes and his Groypers—young, irreverent, unapologetic nationalists—stormed the gates.

Deplatformed yet resilient, Fuentes surged in 2025 visibility, his message of Christian America and skepticism toward foreign influence resonating despite furious denunciations. Carlson’s sit-down with him detonated elite ultra-Zionist neoconservative circles, yet only amplified the Groypers’ reach.

Candace Owens channeled cultural fury, questioned the official narrative of the Charlie Kirk assassination, tying Epstein’s web to intelligence operations, and questioning why America bleeds for distant conflicts while Christians suffer in silence.

In Congress, Thomas Massie stood unbowed: voting against Israel aid, shrugging off Trump’s vicious attacks and primary threats, anchoring the Epstein transparency fight with libertarian steel.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s break cut deepest. Once Trump’s fiercest defender—“I gave him my loyalty for free”—she refused to yield on the Epstein disclosure.

From the House floor, flanked by victims: “I was called a traitor by a man that I fought six years for… A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot serves the United States of America and Americans like the women standing behind me.” Trump withdrew his endorsement, branding her a “traitor.”

Chapter 4: The shadows that feed the flames

Among the America First insurgents—often smeared as extremists yet insisting on nationalism, not hate—grievances coalesce around Israel’s perceived overreach.

They reject the “greatest ally” mantra, seeing influence purchased through donations and enforced by defamation. Warmongering for Netanyahu’s enemies list—Iraq because Saddam threatened Israel, whispers of Iran next—while Americans drown in debt.

Prioritizing Israel’s interests over the plight of besieged Christians abroad—whether in Iraq, Syria, Gaza, the West Bank, or Armenia.

Taking the red pill exposed them to darker ideas and facts they couldn’t unlearn:

- Epstein not mere predator but Israel’s intelligence asset, a blackmail operation run with Mossad ties—Ehud Barak’s visits, funding pipelines.

- Trump’s ties with Epstein proved to be much deeper than casual acquaintance, surfacing in Mar-a-Lago soirées with underage “recruits” supplied by Ghislaine Maxwell. Epstein gloated in 2011 that “that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump… [Victim] spent hours at my house with him; he has never once been mentioned.” By 2019, he told Michael Wolff, “Of course, he knew about the girls.”

- The vulgarity of their orbit was laid bare in a 2018 exchange asking if Putin had photos of Trump “blowing Bubba [Bill Clinton],” while Epstein himself dangled offers to reporters: “Would you like [a] photo of Donald [Trump] and girls in bikinis in my kitchen?”

- Charlie Kirk’s September 2025 assassination—officially a lone left-wing gunman—spawns murmurs of intimidation for his late drift from pro-Israel orthodoxy.

- JFK was assassinated partly over Dimona nukes.

- USS Liberty was deliberately attacked by Israel to get the U.S. involved in Israel’s war against Arab nations.

- Jonathan Pollard stole America’s top secrets for Israel.

- 9/11’s “Dancing Israelis,” Israeli foreknowledge of the attacks, Israeli “art students” spying, Urban Moving Systems, PTECH, and PNAC neocons steering America toward Clean Break wars against Israel’s foes.

- Zionists such as “Lucky Larry” Silverstein benefited hugely from the death of Americans after the attacks: he took control of the WTC towers shortly before the attacks and conveniently took out insurance against terrorism.

Epilogue: The farm’s final tableau

Trump promised transparency, and his pledge to “drain the swamp” was one of the reasons many voted for him. Yet those promises have unraveled.

He focuses too much time and energy on foreign policy while ignoring the economic struggles and everyday needs of ordinary Americans.

His talk of UAP disclosure has given way to silence. The JFK files remain redacted under the guise of “foreign relations.” And the Epstein lists—delayed, now routed to his desk with national security loopholes under Attorney General Pam Bondi—signal too little, too late.

As Congress forces the Epstein disclosure—near-unanimous votes, Trump poised to sign amid cratering approval—the capitulation rings hollow. Redaction powers remain; “national security” shields persist.

Many of his past supporters have come to hate him even more than Democrats, since Democrats never promised to “drain the swamp” or put America First. It was his betrayal that cut deepest.

No wonder his popularity collapsed and his party stumbled in the November elections. Looking ahead, the 2026 midterms threaten to punish division with off-year rebukes. And in the long run, MAGA as a unified force fades with the weakening grip of its founder and his putting Israel first.

Yet something endures. The America First impulse—skeptical of empire, jealous of sovereignty—may outlive the brand, as many of its acolytes, like Fuentes, are still young and energetic; however, that energy can be corrupted.

Like Animal Farm’s closing scene, the pigs and men now play cards together, indistinguishable. Trump allowed the merger; Israel, in the eyes of the disillusioned, sealed the deal.

The charade is over. It is time to let the old icons burn—the MAGA cap, now just fuel for the fire it pretended to rage against.