MAGA Loyalty

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☀️ Exclusive: MAGA solar surprise

Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios

A majority of President Trump's coalition backs solar power, especially if the panels are U.S.-made without Chinese materials, polling shared exclusively with Axios' Ben Geman shows. Why it matters: The Trump administration is making it harder and more expensive to build renewable energy projects. 📊 By the numbers: Top Trump strategist Tony Fabrizio's firm — Fabrizio, Lee & Associates — polled what it calls a "GOP+" sample of Republicans, GOP-leaning independents, and Trump voters. 51% favored utility-scale solar (large plants feeding electricity into the grid), while 30% oppose it. Support soars to 70% if the panels are made in domestic factories, using U.S. materials. 68% agree with the statement: "[W]e need all forms of electricity generation, including utility solar, to be built to lower electricity costs." Keep reading.

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🎙️ MAGA media's great unraveling

Photo illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photos: Getty Images The architects of MAGA's media empire are in open revolt against President Trump, disgusted by his threat to destroy Iran's "whole civilization," Axios' Zachary Basu writes. Why it matters: At the start of Trump's second term, his coalition of podcasters, streamers and activists was unified, powerful and certain. They had just delivered him the White House and believed he would deliver for them. Now the movement's most powerful voices are working to keep Trump in check if not bring him down outright, accusing him of betraying the "America First" promises that built the movement. 🔬 Zoom in: Each defection, taken alone, could be dismissed. Together, they could represent an existential threat to MAGA: Tucker Carlson delivered a 43-minute monologue Monday framing Trump's Iran rhetoric as morally corrupt and even "evil." He expressed personal outrage at Trump's Easter post threatening to bring "hell" to Iran. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once among Trump's most devoted GOP allies in Congress, called his rhetoric "evil and madness" yesterday and demanded his removal via the 25th Amendment. Candace Owens, another disillusioned Trump loyalist with millions of podcast followers, called the president a "genocidal lunatic." Between the lines: The revolt extends beyond MAGA purists, to the constellation of podcasters, comedians and "manosphere" influencers who helped Trump with younger, less ideological voters in 2024 including Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Tim Dillon and Sneako. 🐘 Reality check: The criticisms above are almost entirely from MAGA's elite influencer class — people with large platforms and strong opinions. Rank-and-file Republican voters tell a different story: Roughly two-thirds of Republicans still express confidence in Trump's handling of Iran, even as broader public trust has eroded, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll.

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MAGA feuds

The right-wing media ecosystem that has long served as a useful bullhorn for President Donald Trump unraveled into disarray this week over the war with Iran. Some of his most prominent allies squabbled publicly, and the president labeled them “losers.” ps:If you recall he's already called them losers in his interviews with Bob Woodward and also if you recall he didn't have much better to say about Christians either!! But it seems no remembers all the insults, not because they don't want to, but because they want to!!!!!

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🤖 Scoop: MAGA allies tell Trump to vet AI

Photo illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

A group of more than 60 loyal allies of President Trump is urging him to test and approve the most powerful AI models before they're released, according to a new letter shared first with Axios' Ashley Gold. Why it matters: The letter — signed by Steve Bannon and conservative anti-AI activists Amy Kremer and Brendan Steinhauser — puts a vocal faction of the MAGA base at odds with the White House's hands-off approach to AI. Bannon, a first-term Trump official who hosts the influential "War Room" podcast, has been warning MAGA for more than a year about possible job devastation from AI. "This letter takes us next level," Bannon tells Axios. "The letter lays out we must have mandatory testing and government approval." The letter — organized by Humans First, a conservative group whose tagline is "technology should serve humans … not replace them" — compares AI to nuclear systems and aviation. Read the letter, see the signers ...