Trump foes are dreaming. There’s no MAGA split over Epstein or Israel | Opinion

One of the hallmarks of the Trump era has been the uncommon loyalty he has been able to command among Republican ranks, after decades of intraparty bickering that often hampered conservative success and gave Democrats the opportunity to take full advantage of their comparative unity.

But with the midterm election year of 2026 on the near horizon, there is appreciable political buzz about dissension within the MAGA ranks, some of it ramped up to narratives that portray President Donald Trump as a flailing, endangered lame duck.

Let’s be clear: From the wayward Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to the unending circular food fight over commentator Tucker Carlson and antisemitism, this is a season of sideshows designed to distract Trump from his policy goals and give the media culture something to discuss other than his successes.

Some may ask, what successes? Don’t we have an affordability crisis and a healthcare funding mess? Those issues have sound answers, which the administration would be crafting with greater impact if the news were not filled each day with hand-wringing over Jeffrey Epstein and breathless overanalysis of Carlson’s latest podcast guest.

Nothing irks Trump more than obstacles that arise in the path of his agenda. He would love to be spending his days reminding us of a repaired border, energetic job creation and a series of wars averted. When troublemakers create distractions from within his expected community of allies, he will sometimes hone his elbows to maximum sharpness.

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s rebranding: a break with Trump

Few members of Congress have backed Trump with more reliability than Greene. But she has sacrificed that support on the altar of a curious rebranding scheme that involves slamming Trump on liberal media outlets while apologizing for the tactics she has brought to previous conservative fights.

There is no blanket requirement for Republicans to fuse themselves without exception to every line item of the Trump playbook. But she had to know that cozying up to CNN and “The View” with a grievance list from health care policy to shutdown strategy to deportations could jeopardize her status in his good graces.

Following the brash reaction from him that the world knew would come, she now paints herself as some aggrieved victim of a mean old president treating her horribly, complete with the always reliable tactic of blaming him for inappropriately harsh blowback from random citizens not fond of her change of tone.

Much of the grief MTG has given to Trump and other Republicans involved hesitancy toward the cause of the moment — the full release of the Epstein files. The Trump team did itself no favors floating the promise of such a release as catnip on the campaign trail, aimed straight at the conspiracy brigades who just know that big, famous, powerful names lurk within some file folder and that any hesitation toward complete unredacted release is evidence of complicity in a protection racket.

With resounding congressional votes Tuesday to release the files, it is worth noting the sound basis for seeking more disclosures than we have seen so far. There may well be names of bad actors who richly deserve consequences they have been spared for years. But there are also reasons why a complete document dump is fraught with hazards.

There is no “client list,” no handy tabloid-ready litany of big names ripe for the reputational fall craved by most cheerleaders for unfettered release. The files are scattered across dizzying volumes of protected grand jury testimony, ongoing civil cases, victim-privacy protections and even some foreign intelligence concerns. Unloading reams of raw discovery would trigger a blizzard of lawsuits, handing defense attorneys a decade of delay tactics. It could even reveal sources and methods that legitimate intelligence agencies are still using to pursue trafficking networks. Does that help the cause?

Democrats have a much worse antisemitism problem

For any MAGA critics who grow weary of ginning up an Epstein-based downfall for Trump, there is always the daily game of trying to manufacture an antisemitism crisis that might remotely approach the stains recently endured by Democrats.

From “River to the Sea”-style anti-Israel hostility to ambivalence over the Oct. 7 attacks to the ascendancy of an outright Islamist as mayor of New York, the party is grappling with the foul air of bigotry that has spilled out from college campuses to the halls of Congress. It had to be a relief to see Carlson welcome an outright Jew-hater such as Nick Fuentes for a back-rub interview that repelled many of the fans Carlson carried over from cable news. That spectacle launched a myth of equivalency, as if our two major parties are struggling similarly.

That won’t fly. While there is a sad appetite in some circles of young conservatives for anti-Israel content, it is limited and it has an easy explanation. These are kids whose news diets are filled with reckless TikTok propaganda identifying Israel’s self-defense as “genocide” and America as a partner to global evil. The bridge to venomous antisemitism is a short walk for malleable young minds, even if they contain other worthwhile beliefs.

But no festival of podcast bro posturing rises to a brushfire that could damage the MAGA brand. Trump is the most pro-Israel president in American history, crafting peace through strength in the Middle East while making clear the strategic and moral necessity of maintaining that alliance.

The gleeful anticipation of infighting that will fracture Trump support is an empty exercise in wishful thinking, whether the hopes hang on an antisemitism squabble or continuing obsession with the Epstein files. Both are areas that deserve thoughtful consideration by thoughtful people on all sides. But there are not enough voices of discontent in the Trump base to cause him any lasting damage and not enough ammo available for his critics to extend for much longer their dreams of his collapse.

Mark Davis hosts a morning radio show in Dallas-Fort Worth on 660-AM and at 660amtheanswer.com. Follow him on X: @markdavis.