The spectacle unfolding in Washington is not, for once, only political theatre but possibly the beginning of an unravelling of a movement that promised to upend the American empire from within, only to be devoured by the very establishment it vowed to destroy. Donald Trump’s effective public excommunication of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG) on 14 November – branding her a “wacky,” “Far Left” “traitor” and “RINO” (Republican In Name Only) on Truth Social – marks a potentially  important splintering.

This is the moment when MAGA’s radical rhetoric is seen by true believers to collide with the cold imperatives of governing an imperial state. The Epstein files, the looming House vote on full disclosure, and whispers of military strikes on Venezuela are the surface manifestation and backdrop to a deeper schism: between MAGA’s hardcore base – the working- and middle-class Americans who actually believed “America First” meant “their” interests first – and MAGA as administration, beholden to elite networks, resource extraction, and perpetual war.

The recent No Kings nation-wide protests across all 50 states which brought some of the MAGA faithful out onto the streets combine with internal cracks in the alliance between the mass base and the Trump administration.

And unprovoked aggressions against Venezuela – on top of continued ‘failure’ to extract from the Ukraine war, alongside continuing spend on Israel’s aggressions, and on-off plans to attack Iran – form the foreign policy that betrays the very heart of MAGA.

The deeper reality at the heart of Trumpism – long hidden from its hardcore base - is gradually coming to the surface: it was always an elite-led movement to harness mass discontent, racialise it, and use it to continue by any means necessary the long-lived mission of American empire.

The MTG purge: Loyalty vs. accountability

Greene, once Trump’s most ferocious defender, who stood by him after January 6, and amplified QAnon conspiracies, embodies the raw energy of the MAGA grassroots. Yet on November 14, Trump withdrew his endorsement for her 2026 re-election, threatening to back a primary challenger. Greene had “gone Far Left” and was guilty of “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN.” The trigger was her relentless push for the full release of Jeffrey Epstein’s files – a campaign she tied directly to the cost-of-living crisis afflicting ordinary Americans.

Greene juxtaposed a grocery bill chart showing skyrocketing prices with the demand: “Why are we protecting paedophiles while families can’t afford food?” In addition, her media appearances, criticism of Speaker Mike Johnson’s shutdown capitulation, and alliance with Epstein victims at a Capitol press conference on September 3 marked her evolution from crazy firebrand to populist tribune. Trump’s response was swift and brutal: silence her to block next week’s House vote on unclassified Epstein documents.

But Trump has now backtracked on release of further Epstein files, risking even greater personal exposure and alienation of his still largely loyal base.

Wherever this particular drama ends, it exposes the central contradiction of Trumpism: the movement’s promise to “drain the swamp” was always conditional on protecting the swamp’s most powerful inhabitants – provided they remained loyal. Greene’s sin was, however politically-opportunistic, to prioritise transparency and working-class pain over elite solidarity. Her X posts garnered millions of views and tens of thousands of likes. Opinion polls reported by Newsweek show even hardcore Republican voters (67%) demanding release of the Epstein files.

It reveals a base split between those who see Epstein as the ultimate “deep state” exposure and those who defend Trump as the swamp-drainer-in-chief. GOP Representative Thomas Massie’s call to override GOP hesitation – labelling it “complicity” – underscores the rebellion brewing within the ranks.

The Epstein files: Elite networks and the imperial cover-up

The Epstein saga is the radioactive core of this schism. On November 12, the House Oversight Committee released over 20,000 pages of documents, including numerous emails, from Epstein’s estate, subpoenaed by Democrats. Trump’s name appears over a thousand times. Epstein claimed Trump “knew about the girls” – underage victims – and spent “hours” with one. Flight logs show contact continuing after 2002, despite Trump’s claims of a clean break. A bawdy birthday note, allegedly from Trump, surfaced alongside discussions of his mental state.

Trump responded, as usual, by deflection, demanding Attorney General Pam Bondi investigate Epstein’s ties to “Democrats like Bill Clinton”, Larry Summers, and JPMorgan, dismissing the scandal as a “Russia hoax” distraction from the government shutdown. Conservative media has largely ignored Trump’s mentions, fixating instead on redactions protecting victims. Yet the files implicate bipartisan elites: Clinton, Gates, princes, and financiers.

Epstein’s web encompasses elite power structures that transcend parties, using wealth, charity and political influence to maintain control. Full release risks exposing this decadence, eroding trust ahead of the 2026 midterms. Trump’s selective probe – targeting foes while shielding allies – wreaks of imperial deflection.

Venezuela: The imperial pivot abroad

And nowhere is imperial deflection better illustrated than with the administration’s Venezuela aggressions. If Epstein is the domestic scandal, Venezuela is the foreign distraction. Trump has declared he had “sort of made up my mind” on military strikes following White House briefings on land options – ports and airstrips allegedly tied to cartels. The USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier, the largest the US has ever put to sea, with is 90-100 fighter jets, is within striking range. Over 20 prior boat strikes have killed over 80 people including numerous civilian fishermen. The Senate blocked a Democratic war powers resolution on 6 November.

The stated rationale is migration and drugs. Maduro’s “narco-trafficker” label and a $50 million bounty fuel the narrative. But the subtext is Venezuela’s 300 billion barrels of oil, the world’s largest reserves. Maduro offered shares; Trump refused. Opposition leader María Corina Machado has hinted at resource handovers in exchange for regime change support. Russia and China’s ties to Caracas raise escalation risks.

This is regime change masked as security and resource extraction as national interest. Brazil and Colombia have criticised the strikes, fearing regional instability. Though Venezuela’s military is weak, it has the capacity to defend itself, especially with a highly mobilised people opposing Yankee imperialism.

There is no clear endgame – no plan for the ‘day after’, only the familiar pattern of Uncle Sam’s open-ended intervention. For MAGA’s working-class base, this is another betrayal: billions for foreign adventures while domestic infrastructure crumbles and grocery bills rise.

The deeper schism: Hardcore MAGA vs. Trump’s imperial administration

MTG’s purge, the Epstein cover-up, and looming war of unprovoked aggression against Venezuela reveal the irreconcilable divide within “America First.” The hardcore MAGA base, predominantly working-class, believed the slogan – that America First meant their interests first - wages, healthcare, and communities - over endless wars and elite impunity. They cheered Trump’s promises to end nation-building, forever wars, renegotiate trade deals, and expose paedophile networks.

MAGA as administration, however, operates within the imperial state’s structural constraints. The national security establishment demands perpetual conflict to justify budgets and global dominance. The financial elite requires protection from scrutiny – Epstein’s files threaten that.

The foreign policy blob insists on resource control, even if it means war. Trump’s cabinet – packed with billionaires, generals, and think-tank apparatchiks – embodies this perfectly. The schism manifests in multiple fractures:

Foreign Policy: Hardcore MAGA wanted isolationism. The administration delivers escalation – Ukraine aid, Israel funding, now Venezuela. Greene’s criticism of foreign priorities echoes the base’s frustration.

Economic Policy: The base demanded protectionism and infrastructure. The administration prioritises tax cuts for the rich and deregulation for corporations. Greene’s grocery chart highlighted this betrayal.

Transparency: The base craves exposure of elite corruption. The administration shields it. The Epstein vote is the litmus test.

Loyalty vs. accountability: Trump demands personal loyalty to the leader-emperor. The base increasingly demands results. Greene’s defiance – and Massie’s support – signals a nascent populist revolt against cult leadership.

Supporters of Greene frame her as the true America First champion; Trump loyalists warn of Democratic traps. The Democratic response – Rep. Jared Moskowitz’s Wolverine meme mocking the feud – reveals their glee at MAGA’s self-destruction.

The imperial state devours its rebels

This is not new. American imperial history is littered with populist movements co-opted or crushed by elite power. The Progressive Era’s anti-trust crusaders became Wall Street regulators. The anti-war left of the 1960s morphed into neoliberal Democrats of the 1990s. MAGA follows the pattern: a genuine, though racialised, working-class revolt against globalisation and elite corruption, under Trumpism, has been captured by the very forces it opposed.

The imperial state does not tolerate threats to its core imperatives: global military dominance, resource control, and elite immunity. MTG’s push for Epstein transparency directly challenges MAGA-Trumpism, as do potential strikes on Venezuela. Trump’s purge of Greene is the state reasserting control through its chosen vessel.

What now for the American people?

The hardcore MAGA base faces a choice: double down on Trump’s personality cult, or reclaim “America First” as a working-class agenda. Greene’s opportunistic evolution – from QAnon to grocery charts – suggests a path: align with victims, prioritise domestic renewal, reject imperial adventures. The coming Epstein vote is the immediate battleground. If Republicans block it, they confirm their complicity. If they pass it, they risk exposing the bipartisan rot that sustains the empire.

For ordinary Americans – the factory workers, nurses, and small business owners who powered Trump’s victories – the message is clear: no saviour is coming. The imperial state will always prioritise elites and wars over wages and healthcare. The only antidote is cross-partisan, inter-racial, class-based organising that demands transparency, peace, and economic justice. But the MAGA base is deeply racialised.

Trump’s meltdown is not the end of MAGA. It may be the beginning of its reckoning. Stand by for more fury and deflection from the American Fuehrer.

Inderjeet Parmar is a professor of international politics and associate dean of research in the School of Policy and Global Affairs at City St George’s, University of London, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and writes the American Imperium column at The Wire. He is an International Fellow at the ROADS Initiative think tank, Islamabad, on the board of the Miami Institute for the Social Sciences, USA, and on the advisory board of INCT-INEU, Brazil, its leading association for study of the United States. Author of several books including Foundations of the American Century, he is currently writing a book on the history, politics, and crises of the US foreign policy establishment.

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