FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he departs Walter Reed National Military Medical Center following his annual physical exam, in Bethesda, Maryland, U.S., October 10, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura/File Photo
President Donald Trump cannot last forever — and a New York Times writer delved deep Tuesday to uncover the future of the the MAGA movement.
In his in-depth opinion column/think piece, Thomas B. Edsall grappled with how America's right will look post-Trump.
"First, can a MAGA movement that coalesced around Trump — based on a shared hatred of the left — continue without Trump?" Edsall asked. "Second, can Trumpism be institutionalized in a way that makes it a sustained, if not permanent, political force dominating the Republican Party and the right more broadly?"
Edsall noted that Vice President JD Vance, often mentioned as the MAGA movement's most likely post-Trump figure, is "determined to prove that the answers to both questions is yes." But some of the political scholars and authors Edsall quoted in his column doubt that Vance has what it takes to go the distance as a presidential candidate.
Laura K. Field, author of the book "Furious Minds: The Making of the MAGA New Right," said of Vance, "I don't see him possessing the same level of charisma as Trump. On the other hand, Vance has worked hard to cultivate ties with most of the factions.”
"The MAGA establishment, Field wrote, carries some clear liabilities for the Republican Party," the article stated.
Field views some of the behind-the-scenes MAGA influencers — including billionaire tech bro Peter Thiel, the Claremont Institute and Project 2025 — as too "radical" for mainstream voters. Thiel infamously said that "freedom and democracy" are no longer "compatible."
Rachel Blum, a University of Oklahoma political scientist, said of MAGA, "Many of the Trump World power brokers are new to politics/rose to power through Trump. Many don't have a firm ideology beyond loyalty to Trump."
Edsall commented, "There is, of course, another alternative altogether that would put to rest all the ins and outs of Vance's machinations and the emergence of a new Republican establishment: that over the next three years, Trump and the MAGA movement implode, pushed to the margin by economic incompetence, corruption and the abuse of power. That, however, may be too much to hope for."
Thomas Edsall's full New York Times opinion column is available at this link (subscription required).