Trump flags whip in the wind in Ormond Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2024.

All good cons eventually crumble, and we’re starting to see the earliest signs that the MAGA movement – one of the greatest and most destructive cons in American history – may be poised to fall.

It’s coming, I tell you. And it’s going to be spectacular.

The movement’s creator, President Donald Trump, is a horrendously unpopular and swiftly deteriorating lame duck focused more on building a glitzy ballroom or possibly invading Venezuela than on making life better for Americans.

In the most recent Gallup poll, Trump’s approval rating was at 36% and his disapproval rating was at 60%. For context, MAGA folks will understand that the low approval rate matched President Joe Biden’s in the wake of his disastrous election debate performance in 2024.

Trump is hanging with Nixon in terms of approval rating

Having his approval 24 percentage points underwater at this point in his second term puts Trump in unenviable company.

"Anywhere you look, this is the second worst for a president of either party at this point in their second term, dating all the way back since the 1940s," CNN data analyst Harry Enten said Dec. 1.

The first worst was Richard Nixon. Whomp-whomp.

It's clear folks in MAGA world are circling Trump like sharks

As Trump’s decade-plus time as captain of the MAGA cruise ship winds its way into infamy, it appears the rats are either fleeing the ship or gearing up to fight over scraps in the galley.

One-time MAGA loyalist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has had a messy public breakup with Trump and plans to step down in January. Rep. Troy Nehls, who pranced around wearing a “NEVER SURRENDER!” T-shirt bearing Trump’s mugshot during Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address, recently announced he’ll retire in 2026.

GOP Sens. Joni Ernst, Thom Tillis and Mitch McConnell won’t seek reelection. GOP Reps. Elise Stefanik, Nancy Mace, Andy Biggs and Byron Donalds are just some of the Republican lawmakers bailing to enter their states’ gubernatorial races.

When you've lost the man-o-sphere podcasters, perhaps it's over

It’s clear Republicans are fearful of a midterm elections wipeout, and with good reason. Even the popular bro-oriented podcasters who boosted Trump in the 2024 election are losing faith.

Theo Von and Joe Rogan have railed against Trump’s cruel deportation push. And podcaster Andrew Schulz said: “I voted for none of this. He’s doing the exact opposite of everything I voted for.”

Trump surrounds himself with grifters, so of course they're not loyal

Trump is oblivious to all this, and it appears he either doesn’t care or his handlers are keeping him in a good-news-only bubble, fooling the 79-year-old into believing that everything he does – from possible war crimes in international waters to bulldozing one-third of the White House to make room for an absurdly massive ballroom – is wildly popular.

They can insulate him all they want from reality, but the MAGA movement has always been a fragile coalition of grifters and opportunists who care only about the attention economy. That means there’s a breaking point for Trump, a point at which there’s more attention to be gained from opposing or abandoning him than there is from kissing his butt.

I don’t believe Greene suddenly sprouted a conscience and decided to take a bold stand against Trump over the Jeffrey Epstein files and other issues. She placed her bet that the attention economy is going to shift away from the president, and I think she’s right.

That’s what’s happening with podcasters who are now crying, “How could he have let us down?!?” It’s what’s happening with other Republicans bailing out of Congress. And it’s what will be happening more and more as Trump spirals and the scoundrels surrounding him delude themselves into thinking they’ll be the next MAGA king.

That’s a laugh.

Trump is the only person who can lead MAGA. After him, it's over.

Trump has always been the singular head of the MAGA snake. He is the only figure who could pull the past 10 years of con artistry off, like a uniquely evil P.T. Barnum.

Without Trump, or with a Trump made small by decisive public disapproval, MAGA is a pack of largely untalented, utterly unqualified and decidedly unappealing snake-oil peddlers. Its “leaders” will devour themselves, and it will be fun as the dickens to watch.

The MAGA end may well be near. The signs are everywhere. The con was never going to outrun karma.

Get your popcorn.

Follow USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke on Bluesky at @rexhuppke.bsky.social and on Facebook at facebook.com/RexIsAJerk

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump is horrendously unpopular. Even MAGA is catching on. | Opinion

Reporting by Rex Huppke, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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