Missing Conversations: MAGAReport 3/4/25

The MAGAs are barely discussing tariffs, but what they are saying is revealing

As Trump charges ahead with his agenda, there is an interesting trend I’ve noticed over on the MAGA message boards. Some things Trump is doing are missing from the discussion. None of the top 100 posts on the main board I monitor mention tariffs or trade, despite it being the biggest story of the day, a fulfillment of a campaign promise, and something that will have a huge impact.

This has happened multiple times in the last week, where I’ve set out to see the MAGA reaction to something bit that Trump did, and I can’t find a mention of it. Today, I decided to dig deeper to find these discussions buried somewhere in the archives, and what I found is revealing.

This post is from four months ago, posted by a long-time user of the platform. The subject is “Reliable sources on tarriffs?”. It reads:

none of our guys are actually discussing how this would play out. would be grateful to see it explained.

I understand the general consensus from our side but an actual explanation would be much better

There are a few poorly-informed replies that explain why tariffs are “just reseting back to the things way used to be that made us the super power we were” and how it’s going to bolster the economy by making lots of companies move here. The last person replied “Reliable source on tariffs is Trump,” to which the original poster replied:

but he never explains things in a straightforward manner, which I understand is apart of his strategy and comedic charisma to some extent. I already voted for him the third time, but I would like to know more about how the tariffs will effect my family.

I think this is a fascinating exchange. This three-time Trump voter says “I know our party line, but could someone please actually explain what’s going to happen?” It reveals the performance that these community members are engaged in by asking for a break from it to get real information.

Another post, this one from today, purports to be from a Canadian, with the subject: “[Tariffs] I'm Canadian, and I have to admit Trump is right. Here's why.” He gives a lengthy explanation about how affordable childcare is in Quebec ($7 / day), how industries are subsidized by the government, and how this is not fair to the US. Writing of the new tariffs, he says:

All newspapers/journalists are flipping out here, you should see, it's beautiful to see. Our premier just said this would cost us 160,000 jobs, or around 5% of our work force (LOL). We are warned food will massively go up as we import fruits et al. from the US. From our counter tariffs on your product, btw.

And all I can say is: I don't care. Canada is a socialist shithole and it's crumbling apart. Trump is right to tariff us. It's not fair that our "free healthcare", childcare and so on are being paid for by exploiting the US. Someone will say it.

What a wild post. “Our healthcare is free, childcare is very affordable, our industries are doing well, and I don’t like it. These tariffs will cost us 5% of our workforce and all our prices will go up, and I don’t care.” Is this a performance to prove his loyalty to the ideology? Will he change his tone if his costs go up and he gets fired from his job? That’s unclear - already, we see people negatively impacted by Trump’s policies who say they are willing to endure it for him to make the system “better”.

This phenomenon of barely discussing Trump’s actions that will bring negative consequences and these posts that reveal the ideological performance at the core of MAGA suggest that there is not much room to engage with this community in search of solutions.