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In a surprisingly contentious (on a Fox News-level) interview earlier this week, Laura Ingraham challenged Donald Trump on a few of his policies that seemed to contradict the president’s supposed goal of wanting to put America first.

She questioned whether a 50-year mortgage, which is an idea the administration floated this month, isn’t just a big giveaway to banks, took umbrage when Trump said it’s important to import foreign workers because there aren’t enough talented Americans to do their jobs, and mused whether it is a “pro-MAGA” position to allow 600,000 Chinese students into the country.

Trump’s answer to the last question was particularly telling.

“Don’t forget, MAGA was my idea. MAGA was nobody else’s idea,” he said. “I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else, and MAGA wants to see our country thrive.”

In the president’s mind, that’s certainly true. MAGA is what he says it is.

And while most people see MAGA as a political movement, it’s important to remember that it is also Trump’s greatest con, which is saying something.

He realized that “making the country great again” and putting “America first” are slogans that resonate with tens of millions of disillusioned voters who feel ignored and that the American Dream is out of reach for them.

In reality, however, “America First” means “Trump First.”

Until now, the president has quite skillfully managed to convince his supporters that those two things are synonymous. However, that unity is showing cracks because Trump has made a lot of promises that he either can’t follow through on or never intended to keep.

And, while he is trying to gaslight Americans into believing that they are living in a “new golden age,” their grocery bills, credit card statements, and health care premiums are telling a very different story.

In addition, he is sending billions in taxpayer funds to places like Israel and Argentina.

It’s not just economic issues. Trump also vowed to keep the US out of foreign conflicts, but he keeps threatening other countries with war.

And then there are the Epstein files…

Perhaps more than any other issue, many MAGA adherents are appalled by the fact that an uber-wealthy and well-connected pedophile could get away with running a sex trafficking operation involving hundreds of girls and young women who could be their daughters or granddaughters. And they (reasonably) believe that other powerful people were involved but escaped justice.

However, instead of delivering the promised transparency, Trump is fighting the release of the documents vehemently, calling it all a hoax; he chastises those who care about this issue, and generally behaves like someone who is involved in ways beyond simply knowing that Epstein was a sexual predator of minors.

To the true MAGA believers, at least those still capable of some independent thought, all of this must be very disillusioning.

And Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) certainly is a true believer. In fact, she epitomizes MAGA. Greene is conspiracy-minded, xenophobic, unapologetically “America First,” and naïve when it comes to believing Trump.

Which is why what is (and isn’t) happening in Washington, DC — now firmly in the grip of her own party — doesn’t make sense to her 

The disconnect between having total control over the government and an agenda that supposedly prioritizes the needs of regular Americans on the one hand, and not doing any of that stuff on the other, has caused Greene to ask some (very valid) questions.

Why wasn’t the House in session to advance Trump’s agenda during the shutdown? Why isn’t the GOP doing more to address high prices? Why don’t Republicans have a health care plan to ease the pain her voters are feeling? Why are US companies importing foreign workers instead of hiring Americans? What’s the deal with the Epstein files?

To Greene’s credit, we believe that she is challenging the GOP establishment because she really cares about the people in her district, and she really thought that Trump did, too. And that sets her apart from the vast majority of her GOP peers right now.

Most Republicans in Congress are much more worried about keeping Trump (and the uber-rich) happy than improving the lives of their constituents, which is why they are pretending that everything is going splendidly.

When he imposes tariffs that are a tax on the families back home, they enthusiastically nod along. Then, when he lowers tariffs on agricultural goods to reduce prices, as he did on Friday, they praise him for being a champion for affordability.

Greene actually wants results, and she knows that this Congress and this administration aren’t producing many — certainly not when it comes to helping regular folks make ends meet. And she is speaking out about it.

In other words, while most Republicans are like the courtiers who tell the emperor that his clothes are beautiful, Greene is the one who blurts out that he isn’t wearing any.

Or, to put it differently, she’s like the person benefitting from a Ponzi scheme who’ll keep cashing in if she just stays quiet and gets her friends and family to invest. But she has made clear she doesn’t want to do that. Which is why what happens next could be interesting.

Because while MAGA may be just a con for Trump, Greene has been the epitome of a true believer; but now it may be dawning on her that she has been deceived.

There is no health care proposal, there is no plan to make things more affordable for the regular Americans she is fighting for, and there definitely is no desire for transparency in the Epstein case.

That begs the question of what she is going to do about it… and who is with her.

If she starts toeing the line again, as Elon Musk did after a brief spat with the president, then she will be accepted back into the fold in a less prominent role.

If not, she will most likely end up being isolated because, while it is said that hell has no fury like a woman scorned, a woman scorned has no fury like a Trump who feels he has been wronged.

Or like his supporters. According to the lawmaker, she is facing an increased number of threats that she says are “fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world.”

Though we have been very critical of Greene in the past, we do feel for her. It must be difficult to come to the realization that she has been conned by someone she genuinely believed in (if she is even ready yet to accept this reality). If you had asked us pre-Epstein, we would have said that she would gladly have jumped in front of a train for Trump.

At a minimum, Greene figured out this weekend that past services rendered do not matter to the president. This is a hallmark of Trumpism. He demands unfailing loyalty but will turn on people at the drop of a hat.

And perhaps people within the MAGA movement will start to realize that.

The best-case scenario here is that the way Trump is treating Greene, whose professed aim is to implement the agenda he claims to pursue, will open some eyes. After all, she has much more in common with the average MAGA supporter than the president does.

Sadly, we believe that this quarrel will not cause a major rift in the movement. Trump’s grip on MAGA is too absolute for that.

But, maybe, in a closely divided House in which every vote counts, Greene could start playing a role like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), the chamber’s only principled Republican (unless the principle is “selling out for some more power”).

She could embrace her outsider status and force House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to make some policy concessions or she could use her committee assignments to conduct some much-needed oversight.

But above all, we hope that she will focus on Epstein.

It’s not only the right thing to do, but it is also clearly Trump’s Achilles’ heel and the best way to show to others in the MAGA camp that most of the president’s promises are just hot air.