Two recent decisions have put President Donald Trump at odds with some of his supporters on and off Capitol Hill. Some members of the Make America Great Again movement disagree with the president’s plan to send more weapons to Ukraine, while some question his administration’s recent conclusion on the Jeffrey Epstein files.
Ukraine weapons shipment
On Monday, July 8, during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the president announced his administration would send defensive weapons to Ukraine.“We’re gonna send some new weapons, we have to,” Trump said. “They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard now.”
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The same day, Russia killed at least ten civilians, including three children, in a drone attack.
Trump’s order undercuts Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who halted all shipments to Ukraine one week ago. Hegseth has not commented on the change and sat beside the president during the announcement.
The Ukraine announcement comes just weeks after MAGA was split on the president’s decision to bomb Iranian nuclear sites. Some supporters complained that during his campaign last year, Trump promised to keep America out of wars.
Epstein files
Trump also promised on the campaign trail to release all files on a sex-trafficking investigation of Epstein and his death in federal custody. A recent Justice Department memo stated that Epstein did commit suicide and did not possess a client list.
Even some of the president’s biggest supporters shared their disdain for that conclusion.
“No one believes there is not a client list,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., an ardent Trump supporter, wrote on X.
Far-right influencer Jack Posobiec also responded on X.
“We were all told more was coming,” Posobiec said. “That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn’t have to be.”
Former supporter Elon Musk has also been active on X over the Epstein files. During a feud with the president, Musk claimed that Trump himself was in the files.
“How can people be expected to have faith in Trump if he won’t release the Epstein files,” Musk said on X on Tuesday, July 8.
But the Trump administration defended its findings and conclusions.
“The Trump administration is committed to truth and to transparency,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “That’s why the Attorney General and the FBI Director pledged at the president’s directions to do an exhaustive review of all of the files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and his deaths.”
Trump himself got upset when a reporter asked him about the files today.
“Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump said. “This guy’s been talked about for years. We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things and are people still talking about this guy, this creep? That is unbelievable.”
The new statement on the Epstein case came five months after the administration released what it called “The Epstein Files: Phase 1” to conservative influencers.
Other issues
Along with the Iranian strikes, several other issues have created smaller rifts in the MAGA movement. They include the recent budget bill that Trump signed. Some supporters, such as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., voiced displeasure over adding trillions of dollars to the national debt.Musk, who also opposed the budget bill, says he will start a new political party over the issue.
