A cadre of high-profile conservative figures once aligned with President Donald Trump is now openly discussing the creation of a new political party, signaling a dramatic rupture on the populist right.
According to the Daily Mail, podcaster Tucker Carlson, former Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, outgoing Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie, and former National Counterterrorism Center director Joe Kent convened at Carlsons rustic cabin in Maine to map out their next steps. All four were once staunch Trump allies but now cast themselves as disillusioned nationalists, accusing the President of abandoning core America First promises that helped propel him to the White House.
In a pointed social media post, Greene declared, We said no more foreign wars, and we meant it and supported Donald Trump because he made that promise. But hes betrayed us all. She added that, Our commitment is America First for all Americans, right, left, and center. The movement has begun, framing the effort as a populist alternative to what they see as a drifting GOP establishment and an unfulfilled Trump agenda.
The candlelit gathering, complete with matching mugs, cookies, and walls lined with vintage firearms beneath a chandelier of deer antlers, also included Massies wife, Carolyn Grace Moffa, and Greenes new husband, Brian Glenn. Massie reposted Greenes photo from the meeting with the wry caption, This meeting will not be televised, even though Carlsons cabin doubles as the set for his widely watched podcast.
Reaction on the right was immediate and sharply divided, with some grassroots conservatives cheering the rebellion and others denouncing it as sabotage. Alex Jones praised the lineup, writing, Thats a great group of Americans! while another supporter enthused, The Avengers have assembled, casting the group as insurgent heroes against a faltering political order.
But loyalists within the MAGA movement swiftly moved to brand the would-be party-builders as enemies of the cause and of the President himself. Firebrand commentator Laura Loomer fumed, Every single one of these people belongs on a government watch list. Every person in this photo is a traitor to America and an anti-Trump operative amplified by foreign adversaries.
The backlash extended beyond Trump-world influencers to more establishment-leaning conservatives and independent commentators. Meghan McCain mocked the tableau, asking, Why does everyone in this photo look like theyre at Patricias Sunset Cocktails? while journalist Walter Kurt blasted Greene personally: You quit Congress in the middle of your term to get married in Vegas and go on a media tour. Why would anyone look to you as the leader of a movement?
Greene, who resigned from Congress in January amid a very public feud with the President, has increasingly positioned herself as an independent America First voice rather than a loyal Trump surrogate. Her alliance with Massie deepened last year when the pair led a Capitol Hill push to force the release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a move that enraged Trumps inner circle and prompted the President to brand Greene a traitor.
Massie, a seven-term libertarian-leaning Republican, paid a steep political price for crossing Trump on both Epstein disclosures and the Presidents One Beautiful Bill tax package. In May, he was decisively defeated in a primary by Ed Gallrein, a retired Navy SEAL and farmer personally backed by Trumps political operation, underscoring the Presidents continuing grip on GOP primaries even as critics claim his broader popularity is eroding.
Kent, who served in the Trump administration on counterterrorism issues, previously resigned over disagreements on Iran policy and then appeared on Carlsons program within days, signaling his break with the administrations foreign policy. His presence at the Maine summit reinforces the groups central message that endless overseas entanglements betray both conservative principles and the working-class voters who rallied to Trumps anti-war rhetoric.
Greenes personal life has also become part of the political theater, with critics accusing her of abandoning her congressional post for celebrity and spectacle. She and Glenn recently slipped away to Las Vegas, marrying in a private Tuesday night ceremony on the Bellagios Terrazza di Sogno, where they exchanged vows overlooking the iconic Vegas fountains and city strip after quietly securing a marriage license a week earlier.
Whether this nascent America First faction can translate social media buzz and podcast clout into a viable third party remains uncertain, especially given the Presidents demonstrated ability to crush internal dissent through primaries and public shaming. Yet the very fact that prominent conservatives now openly accuse Trump of betrayal, insist that the movement has begun, and flirt with a breakaway vehicle suggests a growing struggle on the right over who truly speaks for limited government, non-intervention abroad, and the populist voters who feel both partiesand perhaps even Trump himselfhave failed to deliver.
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