Trump's image within MAGA 'collapsing under weight of reality' as losses mount: analyst

President Donald Trump's image within the MAGA movement is "collapsing under the weight of reality" as his followers find it more difficult to reconcile his brand with the administration's recent fumble in the war with Iran, according to one analyst.

Mary Trump, a psychologist and author, argued in a new Substack essay that her uncle is driving a wedge in his base as he continues to tout his brand of strength after he signed a memorandum of understanding with the Iranian regime that some have described as a complete capitulation. The agreement allowed Iran to immediately resume selling oil and lifted some sanctions on the regime in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which had been shut since the early days of the war.

Trump described the phenomenon as a "growing divide" within the movement itself.

"This is no longer simply a disagreement over one agreement with Iran. It is an increasingly public recognition that the image Donald carefully constructed over decades as a fearless negotiator and master dealmaker is collapsing under the weight of reality. The farther reality drifts from the mythology, the harder it becomes for even his most devoted supporters to reconcile the two," Mary Trump wrote.

"One faction refuses to acknowledge that Donald could ever be wrong and therefore views whatever agreement he signs as, by definition, a success. The other sees what is unfolding as an unmistakable capitulation after months of war, tens of billions of dollars spent, global instability, higher energy prices, and the unnecessary loss of human life," she added.