Support for the MAGA agenda is slowly but surely eroding from the bottom up and conservative media sources and elected GOP representatives and Senators in Washington are sensing the shift. Protracted protests against the authoritarianism, ineptitude, and lying by the Trump administration are leading media outlets owned by Rupert Murdock and conservative podcasters like Joe Rogan to question the wisdom of some of the President’s decisions. And, as the President’s support erodes at the grassroots level with mid-term elections approaching, legislative support for the Trump administration is diminishing. The wheels aren’t off the MAGA bus just yet, but they are wobbling at the local, State, and national levels.  

There was never great enthusiasm for the MAGA agenda in our region where 3 of the four counties voted for Harris by a large margin. From the beginning of Donald Trump’s second term, residents in the Upper Valley launched visibility campaigns ranging from yard signs to ad hoc demonstrations on highway overpasses to locally organized weekly vigils on the Ledyard Bridge and the Green in Hanover to participation in national demonstrations like No Kings Day. Contrary to claims of right-wing news sources, these campaigns were not orchestrated or funded by Antifa or George Soros. They were grassroots gatherings organized through listservs, social media, and word-of-mouth. Because the initial protests originated in left-leaning communities and consisted largely of Baby Boomers, many MAGA observers derided the demonstrators as “aging hippies” who would lose interest once the weather got cold, the economy started booming, and the borders were sealed and criminal immigrants deported or incarcerated. 

As spring turned to winter, however, the national and state economy remained stuck. Prices crept up as the tariffs increased the costs of many products, credit card debt hit the highest levels ever at the end of 2025, and polls by UNH in November 2025 found that the public’s support for Trump’s handling of the economy hit an all-time low in New Hampshire. Worse for the Trump administration, the data on his arrests of 400,000 undocumented immigrants showed that fewer than 14% of those arrested by ICE had criminal records and 40% had no criminal record whatsoever. ICE’s treatment of immigrants and protesters led to 60% of the public sensing that the administration’s tactics in dealing with immigrants were “too tough”. All of these factors contributed to the erosion of support for the President, with his current national approval rating at 37%.  

This past week there is increasing evidence that support for the Trump administration is weakening. 

  • A grand jury in Washington failed to indict six elected officials who the Department of Justice charged with seditious conspiracy. The “crime” of the six legislators, who included NH Representative Maggie Goodlander? A videotape reminding members of the Armed Forces that they do not have to follow illegal orders.
  • The Wall Street Journal featured an op ed article titled “America Is Running Out of Patience” that detailed polls showing that GOP voters no longer blame Joe Biden for the state of the economy.
  • Conservative podcaster Joe Rogan, who strongly and avidly supported Trump in 2024, suggested late last month that Trump was using raids to distract the public’s attention away from the Epstein Files, an issue of great interest to his listeners
  • The National Governors Association (NGA) declined the President’s invitation to the traditional dinner he hosts as part of their annual convention because he refused to invite two Democrats. In the letter sent to the President, Oklahoma GOP Governor Stitt, who chairs the NGA, decried Trump’s injection of partisanship into their organization which strives to find middle ground solutions to common problems.  
  • Twenty-four states– including Vermont and New Hampshire- refused to turn over voter files to the Department of Justice as part of the Trump administration’s effort to nationalize the Mid-term elections.
  • The House voted to rescind the President’s recently imposed tariffs on Canada, the first time either legislative body has asserted its Constitutional authority over trade.

Those who voted for Donald Trump sought a leader who would control the borders, avoid engaging in foreign wars and broker peace treaties where conflicts raged, reduce the power of the Federal government, restore our country’s standing as an economic powerhouse, make groceries and housing affordable, and operate the government in an open and transparent fashion. Over the past year we’ve witnessed DOGE contractors slashing government agencies and gaining access to our personal data, masked men separating children from their parents, wartime powers invoked to bomb fishing vessels and unseat governments in South America, broken treaties and endless fighting in the Ukraine and Gaza, an executive branch seizing power from local and state governments and the US legislature, the rise of China’s economy as they capture the international market for electric powered vehicles, solar panels, and AI, spiraling prices as a result of unilaterally imposed tariffs on goods we need, and thousands of pages of redacted documents as evidence of “transparency”. 

This turmoil is not strengthening our country. There is an ever-widening gap between those with inherited wealth and college degrees and those who struggle to make ends meet at the end of each month. Our stature as a nation championing democracy is compromised. Our leaders invoke fear in place of hope. Is it any surprise that the “aging hippies” are being joined by younger generations who seek peace, economic and political stability, and a chance to realize their own dreams for the future?