Donald Trump is the first WWE Hall of Famer to make his way to the White House which means that he’s probably familiar with the concept of heels. For those unversed in WWE lore, the heel is an important part of professional wrestling where a supposedly good star turns evil. It’s all part of a script obviously, but even the most hardcore fans were shocked when people’s favourites like The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin suddenly turned heel. And now Trump has to deal with heels within his own MAGA ecosystem as Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Megyn Kelly and Alex Jones have broken ranks and gone hammer-and-tongs after the MAGA messiah over the Iran war.
For nearly a decade, Donald Trump held together a coalition that did not need ideological coherence to function. It brought together voters opposed to foreign wars with others who wanted a more assertive United States, and it allowed both instincts to coexist without ever forcing a resolution. Trump’s rhetoric made that possible. He could criticise past wars while threatening future ones, oppose intervention while projecting strength, and his supporters could choose which version they preferred.
