MAGA demands arrests after Trump accuses Obama of "treason"
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Trump accused former President Obama of "treason" during a meeting with Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Photo: Yuri Gripas/Abaca via Getty Images
The Trump administration's sweeping "transparency" crusade has electrified MAGA loyalists eager to see "Deep State" officials and Jeffrey Epstein's alleged clients paraded to prison.
- Now, some of President Trump's most prominent supporters say he must deliver to maintain that unity.
Why it matters: Under pressure for his handling of the Epstein case, Trump is taking a big swing at MAGA's biggest bogeymen — the supposed cabal of shadowy elites who run the country, along with its army of unelected government bureaucrats.
- He raised the stakes Tuesday, declaring in the Oval Office that former President Obama and other ex-officials must be prosecuted: "Whether it's right or wrong, it's time to go after people," Trump said.
- Trump's allegations of "treason" stemming from the 2016 Russia investigation drew a rare response from Obama's office, which rejected the claims as "outrageous" and "bizarre."
Zoom in: MAGA's expectations are stratospheric. Failure to land anyone behind bars could be seen as a betrayal — a break from the "promises made, promises kept" mantra that has defined Trump's relationship with his base.
- "If you tell the base of people, who support you, of deep state treasonous crimes, election interference, blackmail, and rich powerful elite evil cabals, then you must take down every enemy of The People," Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) posted Monday.
- "If not," she warned, "the base will turn and there's no going back."
Driving the news: Trump dramatically upped the ante in just the past few days, after spending weeks under fire for dismissing the Epstein files as a "hoax."
- The Justice Department asked a federal court to unseal "pertinent" grand jury testimony from Epstein's sex trafficking case, a subject of intense public scrutiny because of his ties to global elites and mysterious death in federal custody in 2019.
- Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is also seeking a meeting with Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for her role in his sex trafficking ring.
Also this week, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard accused former Obama-era intelligence officials of a "treasonous conspiracy" over their role in investigating Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
- During an Oval Office event with the president of the Philippines, Trump deflected Epstein questions and launched into a broadside accusing Obama himself of manufacturing the "Russia hoax."
- "He's guilty. This was treason. This was every word you can think of," Trump said, baselessly accusing the former president of attempting to rig the 2016 election.
Zoom in: MAGA is taking Trump at his word and setting its expectations accordingly.
- "He accused his predecessor as commander-in-chief of treason — in front of another head of state and live on global TV. This unprecedented move makes the follow-through vitally important," MAGA graybeard Steve Bannon told Axios.
- "The accused must be indicted, must be prosecuted, must be incarcerated when found guilty. The failure to leave it all on the field after DNI's and the president's charges would be devastating to the MAGA movement and the nation."
Between the lines: This is a movement that doesn't appreciate being gaslit.
- Outrage erupted after Attorney General Pam Bondi teased Epstein revelations that never saw the light of day. If MAGA feels it's been strung along again, a rupture in the movement becomes a real risk.
MAGA-friendly podcaster Tim Pool told Axios that Trump's most loyal supporters will likely stick with him no matter the outcome.
- But parts of the broader coalition — those who are motivated less by Trump and more by the promise of accountability — could start to splinter.
- Those are voters "who have backed Trump on a lot of issues, but who will boo him and condemn him if he backs out on the Epstein and the [Russia] stuff," Pool said.
Reality check: It's very possible that MAGA won't get what it wants.
- The grand jury testimony isn't the full Epstein case file that activists have long demanded. And the Justice Department is already seeking to redact "personal identifying information" on top of victim information.
- Meanwhile, Gabbard's accusation of Obama-era "treason" hinges on a claim that no serious investigation ever made: that Russia hacked and altered vote tallies in 2016.
- Special counsel Robert Mueller and the Senate Intelligence Committee — chaired by now–Secretary of State Marco Rubio — both concluded that Russia interfered in the 2016 election through social media bots and the hacking and leaking of Democratic emails.
What to watch: MAGA is still fiercely loyal to Trump, having weathered a decade of controversies together.
- As frustrations peaked last week, Trump's renewed push for transparency — paired with MAGA's backlash to a Wall Street Journal report about a bawdy birthday note Trump allegedly wrote to Epstein in 2003 — helped calm the base and refocus its anger on the "fake news" media.
- "I'm sure there will be disappointment, but the MAGA movement trusts this president deeply, emphatically, and deservedly so," MAGA influencer CJ Pearson told Axios when asked how the base would respond if nobody is arrested.
