The Dispensable King: Why MAGA’s Factions Will Eventually Abandon Trump

The Civil War Brewing Within MAGA: Part 5

In our previous installments, we examined the key factions within MAGA—The Christian Nationalists, The Extraction Class, and The Militant Extremists. Now, we turn to the man at the center: Donald Trump. Despite his prominence, Trump is more of a figurehead than the architect of this movement. His role is transactional, and once he is no longer useful, he will be discarded.

Trump perceives himself as the leader of a transformative revolution, but in reality, he is a tool rather than a ruler. His influence rests on the cult of personality he has cultivated, but true power within MAGA lies elsewhere. Project 2025, spearheaded by The Heritage Foundation, is already designing a government framework that does not depend on Trump. While it aligns with MAGA’s broader goals, it underscores the reality that Trump’s presence is not essential. His usefulness is conditional, and once his actions begin to undermine rather than enable their agenda, he will be removed.

To The Extraction Class, Trump is a wrecking ball—effective for tearing down institutions but incapable of governing. Their true priority is a deregulated, AI-driven economy, a vision that does not require Trump’s leadership. The Christian Nationalists tolerate Trump only as long as he advances their theocratic goals, but they do not see him as divinely anointed—merely a convenient tool. The Militant Extremists, obsessed with ideological purity and brute strength, are already growing impatient with Trump’s erratic behavior and perceived compromises. Their loyalty is to their cause, not to him.

Trump’s self-preservation instincts make him an unreliable ally, even to those most loyal to him. When asked in a recent interview whether JD Vance was his chosen successor, Trump refused to endorse him, saying only, “No, but he’s very capable.” Rather than solidifying a successor to carry the movement forward, Trump deliberately left the question open, reinforcing what has always been true—Trump is not building a movement, he is preserving his own power.

But this refusal isn’t just about Trump’s ego; it signals a deeper fracture within MAGA itself. Vance is one of the few figures with backing from both The Christian Nationalists and The Extraction Class, making him a rare unifying figure within the coalition. By refusing to endorse him, Trump is keeping these factions in competition rather than allowing them to consolidate under a single leader. His reluctance to name a successor ensures that MAGA’s internal rivalries continue to escalate, as each faction jockeys for influence in anticipation of a post-Trump era.

As power struggles intensify, Trump’s refusal to name a successor leaves the movement leaderless, ensuring that factions will compete for dominance rather than unite. His unwillingness to cede control is not just self-preservation—it is a ticking time bomb that will accelerate MAGA’s internal collapse.

Trump is neither a strategist nor the mastermind of this movement; he is a vessel through which disparate factions have consolidated power. His appeal to the MAGA base remains strong, but once these factions determine they can sustain control without him, they will sideline him. For now, they indulge his vanity and erratic tendencies, but when the time comes to cement power, he will become expendable. The only question is whether he will accept his fate—or if his ego will drive him to fight back, turning on the movement he helped create.

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Why Some Authoritarian Factions Maintain Long-Term Alliances—and Why MAGA Won’t

Historically, authoritarian regimes with competing factions have sustained long-term alliances through strong centralized leadership, external threats, and structured control mechanisms. Francisco Franco’s Spain maintained stability by balancing the military, the Catholic Church, and the Falangists under Franco’s absolute rule. Stalin’s Soviet Union pitted the Communist Party, secret police, and military against each other, ensuring that while factions competed, none could threaten Stalin’s power. Nazi Germany’s coalition of industrialists, military elites, and ideological hardliners coexisted—until Hitler no longer needed the paramilitary SA and purged them in the Night of the Long Knives. These regimes endured because a dominant leader prevented factions from turning on each other prematurely and imposed a structured system to keep power centralized.

MAGA lacks these stabilizing elements. Unlike Franco or Stalin, Trump is not a disciplined, strategic leader capable of managing competing factions. His leadership is erratic, loyalty-based, and impulsive, making him ineffective at maintaining internal stability. He has repeatedly played factions against each other, but without a structured mechanism to ensure long-term cooperation, internal divisions are inevitable.

Some might argue that MAGA’s factions will remain united against common adversaries like Democrats or globalists. However, history suggests otherwise. Once an authoritarian movement consolidates power and external threats fade, internal power struggles emerge. The Nazi Party purged the SA in 1934 when Hitler no longer needed them. The Bolsheviks turned on rival communist factions after the Russian Civil War. Iran’s Islamists eliminated their secular revolutionary allies once religious rule was established. MAGA’s factions—Christian Nationalists, The Extraction Class, and Militant Extremists—are currently bound by a shared enemy, but once power is secured, their fundamental contradictions will lead to conflict.

While corporate interests and religious nationalism have coexisted within the Republican Party for decades, MAGA represents an extreme radicalization of these forces. Christian Nationalists seek a theocracy that enforces strict moral governance, a vision that directly clashes with The Extraction Class’s pursuit of a deregulated, AI-driven economy. Meanwhile, Militant Extremists thrive on chaos and brute force, while both Christian Nationalists and The Extraction Class depend on institutional control. These contradictions mirror revolutionary Iran, where Islamist clerics turned on their pro-business, Western-educated allies once religious rule was firmly in place.

MAGA’s lack of ideological cohesion, Trump’s unstable leadership, and the irreconcilable priorities of its factions make long-term stability impossible. The closer they get to consolidating power, the more inevitable their collapse becomes.

Authoritarian movements built on temporary alliances rather than shared governance never endure. Their pursuit of power may unite them for a time, but once power is within reach, their conflicting goals will tear them apart. History provides no exceptions.

One of the first and most consequential fractures within MAGA is emerging between The Christian Nationalists and The Extraction Class. Their alliance, built on a fragile convergence of short-term objectives, masks deep ideological contradictions that will inevitably force them into conflict.

In the next installment, we’ll explore how this uneasy partnership—between religious extremists yearning for theocracy and corporate elites seeking an AI-driven autocracy—was always destined to break.

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