The old Donald Trump is back, only this time his supporters aren’t cheering.
In a week that went sideways so radically that some were calling for the ouster of White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Trump even spoiled his effort to smartly tackle high prices by insulting and betraying America First cheerleader Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
“Marjorie ‘traitor’ Green is a disgrace to our GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform, forgetting the old political axiom of keeping one’s enemies, or frenemies in this case, close.
Trump’s attacks on those he viewed as traitors during his first term were cheered, but dumping on his No. 1 Jan. 6 supporter and even threatening to help primary her has split MAGA this time.
Greene on Saturday said that her phone has been blowing up with supporters cheering her on. But Trump’s petty attacks have also led to death threats. “I am now being contacted by private security firms with warnings for my safety as a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world. The man I supported and helped get elected,” she said on X.
I am now being contacted by private security firms with warnings for my safety as a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world.
The man I supported and helped get elected.
Aggressive rhetoric attacking me has historically…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
(@RepMTG) November 15, 2025
What’s more, independent pollsters who have shown him doing better than biased media polls are now warning that he is squandering the support he built up in his first six months and could lose control of the House and Senate, paving the way for a new Democrat push for impeachment.
And while he and the Republicans won in the government shutdown fight, the debate over having the government come clean on pedophile and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein has chilled the good feelings.
He is supporting the America Last members who are hated by OG and NEW MAGA, which makes it look worse.
I cannot overstate the political damage that will be done if he loses these primary battles to either Massie or MTG.
His capital will be spent. America Last will abandon him.
— Rich Baris The People’s Pundit (@Peoples_Pundit) November 15, 2025
Democratic pollster and Weekly White House Report Card grader John Zogby said Trump is in danger again of seeing his approval rating plummet as he balks at releasing the Epstein files.
Conservative grader Jed Babbin also noted that the congressional spending deal only solved the shutdown until January, when it could happen again.
Jed Babbin
Grade: B-
This was a pretty good week for President Donald Trump, but little really stands out.
Except: The Schumer Shutdown is finally over, thanks to Republican pressure and Trump’s hanging on. It was a real defeat for the Democrats, and they’re breaking into a minor civil war over it. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) may be done as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) seems to be lining up to primary him.
But let’s not celebrate too soon. The shutdown is only over until January, when it could easily happen again.
The Dow went up over 48,000 for a couple of days. The economy, despite what the media says, is cooking along nicely.
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau was finally ruled unconstitutional, not by the Supreme Court but by the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. The CFPB was unconstitutional from the get go because the law that sets it up requires it to draw funding directly from the Treasury instead of relying on congressional appropriations. That is both unconstitutional and illegal.
Trump talked about a $2,000 bonus for many U.S. families drawn out of his tariff campaign. That would be nice, but it almost certainly won’t happen.
The USS Gerald Ford, our biggest carrier, is now off Venezuela, and U.S. air strikes continue against drug cartel boats. Trump may be trying to overthrow Venezuelan dictator Nicholas Maduro, but it’s a faint hope. Shooting up the drug boats may or may not be legal.
John Zogby
Grade: F
The government is open for business again.
But the sordid Jeffrey Epstein Saga continues and has broken through the news agenda again. It was destined to do this because President Donald Trump has enabled it.
Instead of fulfilling his campaign promise to release all the files, he has chosen a number of gambits to hide the files. His dutiful Attorney General Pam Bondi said there was nothing in the files to implicate anyone, but the president has ordered the Justice Department to investigate everyone, especially several prominent Democrats, for possible ties to the late, convicted pedophile.
He has, at the same time, called the whole issue a ‘Democrat hoax.’ There may be Democratic individuals involved, at least that is what the rumors say. But there is only one president. Polls show that when the Epstein issue rears its ugly head, Trump’s numbers go down. Disapproval rates among independents rise, and (at least in our John Zogby Strategies poll back in August when the Epstein story dominated the news) his approval rating among GOP voters drops down to the low 80s from the 90s normally.
The key question that puzzles me: If the president is innocent, why does he insist on looking so guilty? Kind of like why didn’t former President Richard Nixon burn those pesky tapes? Will it all unravel from here? I don’t know, but this week it all looks bad.
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Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on X @jedbabbin.
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His latest book is Beyond the Horse Race: How to Read Polls and Why We Should. His podcast with son and managing partner and pollster Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on X @ZogbyStrategies.