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MAGA movement | |
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.jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg) .jpg)  From top to bottom, left to right:
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| Leader | Donald Trump |
| Founded | June 16, 2015; 10 years ago (June 16, 2015) |
| Ideology | Trumpism |
| Political position | Right-wing tofar-right |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Slogan | Make America Great Again |
TheMake America Great Again (MAGA)movement is an American political movement that began withDonald Trump's announcement initiatinga campaign in the2016 United States presidential election. The movement is closely aligned withTrumpism, a set of ideologies and beliefs surrounding Trump.
In June 2015, the businessmanDonald Trump announced that he was running for president in the2016 United States presidential election.His campaign employed the term "make America great again", a political slogan previously associated withRonald Reagan's1980 presidential campaign and mentioned by presidentBill Clinton several times in his presidential campaigns andpresidency.[1] Trump used the phrase in his announcement speech to criticize other presidential candidates as "controlled fully by the lobbyists".[2] The phrase was also used on Trump's campaign website[3] and byTexas senatorTed Cruz in praising Trump for announcing his presidential campaign.[4] In an interview withThe Washington Post, Trump stated that he thought of the phrase after the2012 presidential election and filed for a trademark five days later; the trademark came into effect a month after Trump announced his campaign.[5] Merchandise containing the phrase "Make America Great Again" was sold atTrump Tower.[6] The phrase was also used on baseball caps worn by Trump as early as July, in a visit toLaredo, Texas.[7] It was additionally the name of twopolitical action committees supporting Trump's campaign.[8]
As theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United States exacerbated in March 2020, conflicting beliefs on the severity of the disease and how the federal government shouldrespond divided the MAGA movement, though supporters of Trump remained steadfast in seeking to containCOVID-19 to ensure Trump's victory in the2020 presidential election.[9] The threat of COVID-19 was made apparent to followers of the MAGA movement after warnings from Trump's health officials; nonetheless, several Trump supporters articulated that Trump's response could be extreme.[10]Anthony Fauci, the director of theNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, received criticism from a minority of far-right Trump supporters for his apparent political beliefs.[11] Asprotests began across the United States in the aftermath of themurder of George Floyd, followers of the MAGA movement vociferously opposed the political slogan "defund the police".[12] Several members approached demonstrations with counterprotests, a development that resulted in thekillings of Aaron Danielson and Michael Reinoehl, a Trump supporter and his alleged killer, respectively, and theKenosha unrest shooting, in whichKyle Rittenhouse shot three men, killing two.[13]
As the results of the 2020 presidential election were broadcast, Trump publicly criticizedFox News for being the first news network to declare thatJoe Biden had won the electionin Arizona. His comments resulted in some members of the MAGA movement shifting towards news networks such asOne America News Network andNewsmax, which embracedfalse claims of electoral fraud more vigorously than Fox News, and towards social networks such asParler. Newsmax received criticism itself fromQAnon supporters, who denounced the network's use of a photograph of a man wearing a hoodie to illustratewhite nationalism, and Parler faced false allegations that it was owned by the investor and philanthropistGeorge Soros, the subject ofconspiracy theories from Trump's supporters.[14]
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Ahead of the2019 Canadian federal election, accounts onTwitter identifying themselves as members of the MAGA movement mounted a failed campaign to defeat theLiberal Party and its leader,Justin Trudeau.[15] InMexico,protests against the country's president,Claudia Sheinbaum, following the assassination ofUruapan mayorCarlos Manzo in November 2025 received support from members of the MAGA movement.[16]
After the2024 Romanian presidential election was held and promptly annulled amid allegations ofRussian interference, theresulting election the following year received attention from the MAGA movement. The controversy overCălin Georgescu's disqualification was brought to several MAGA figures by Adrian Thiess, a Romanian political fixer.[17]
The MAGA movement has attracted an international audience, particularly fromtraditionalist conservatives in theUnited Kingdom. British prime ministersBoris Johnson andLiz Truss began appearing at several events hosted for the MAGA movement after their premierships.[18] Ahead oflocal elections in May 2025,Nigel Farage began hosting political events similar to MAGA rallies.[19]
Amid concerns that theAlternative for Germany would be banned for political extremism after theFederal Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the party as right-wing extremist, several party officials began meeting with MAGA figures to protect itself.[20]
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In August 2022, presidentJoe Biden described the ideology of the MAGA movement as "semi-fascism".[21]
Ian Goldin, a professor ofglobalization at theUniversity of Oxford, stated that the MAGA movement was bolstered byeconomic inequality andanxiety, conditions that persisted throughTrump's second term.[22]
According toLaura K. Field inFurious Minds (2025), intellectuals in the MAGA movement comprise several primary ideological associations centered around differing ideals, but connected through a collective disdain for liberalism. Field's groupings include individuals associated with theClaremont Institute,postliberals, andChristian nationalists; Field additionally notes the existence of a loose collective on the peripheries of the MAGA movement that engages in ahypermasculine andChauvinistic aesthetic and rhetoric with absurdist names, such asRaw Egg Nationalist andBronze Age Pervert.[23]
According toPolitico, the MAGA movement has been defined by internal conflicts as early as December 2016, when members of the movement conflicted over ideologies atinauguration parties.[14]
After theOctober 7 attacks and the resultingGaza war, the MAGA movement divided over U.S. assistance toIsrael and thelegitimacy of the State of Israel. The split has extended to theUSSLiberty incident in theSix-Day War; the political commentatorBen Shapiro,Texas senatorTed Cruz, and theNational Review's editor-in-chief,Rich Lowry, have firmly defended the conclusion of theNaval Court of Inquiry and thegovernment of Israel that the ship was sunk by the Israeli military on accident, while the commentatorsTucker Carlson andCandace Owens, andArizona representativePaul Gosar have insisted that the ship's identity was known to Israel and was an intentionalfalse flag operation.[24]
As of November 2025, over a third ofRepublicans do not consider themselves to be MAGA Republicans, according to aPolitico poll.[25]
Political theorists associated with the MAGA movement includePatrick Deneen, aUniversity of Notre Dame professor who authoredWhy Liberalism Failed (2018).[26]
The MAGA movement was influenced by the political activistCharlie Kirk, whowas assassinated in September 2025.[27]
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