Can the Maga movement survive without Trump?

Before the 2016 presidential campaign, current US President Donald Trump adopted the slogan "Make America Great Again", in Swedish "make America great again". The acronym Maga has since become the name of a political movement sprung from the policies advocated by Trump.

On Sunday night, the president was asked if the movement can survive without him as leader.

- I think so, because Maga is about common sense, Trump then replied.

But Emma Ricknell, political scientist at Linnaeus University, and Erik Åsard, professor emeritus of North American studies at Uppsala University, believe it will be difficult to replace Trump. One reason for that is that the movement revolves around the person of Trump.

- It is more of a personality cult than an ideology. Most of it is built around Trump as a person and his charisma, says Erik Åsard.

Emma Ricknell is on the same track. She describes it as the movement being motivated by what Trump wants. It is difficult to put an ideological stamp on Trump's supporters, in part because of the president's political volatility. His actions can be contradictory and fluctuate from one day to another. Ricknell nevertheless mentions populism – simple solutions and a dismissal of the establishment – ​​as one of the characteristics.

During Trump's second term, former political supporters have begun criticizing the White House for going against what they see as the Maga movement's ideology. The criticism has mainly revolved around the war in Iran and the Epstein files.

Despite the spread, there is a group of voters who identify with the movement. Future Republican representatives will have to deal with that, Erik Åsard believes.

- That way, Trump's spirit will live on within the party. But even that influence will disappear over time, I think, says Åsard and adds:

- The confrontational style and destructive rhetoric that he stands for, I fear, is here to stay.

He further says that the defeat of the Republicans in the mid-term elections - the party lost the majority in Congress - is as much a defeat for Maga.

- I think Trump has overestimated the Maga movement's power, says Åsard.

Emma Ricknell says at the same time that the movement - or parts of it - can remain at a lower political level in the states. From there it can then come to life again.

- He has obviously inspired a lot of people and those people can be elected at lower political levels within the states. There is then the opportunity for their political careers to grow to national level, says Emma Ricknell.

Although the political movement is difficult to define, its leader – the president – ​​has changed the Republican Party, according to Erik Åsard. He mentions a complete reversal in the view of global trade with the introduction of tariffs, but also an increasingly tough view of migration.

- There will be a battle within the party about which direction to take after Trump. Should one keep Maga or go back to a more traditional conservative path? We don't yet know how that battle will play out, he says.

Regardless, Emma Ricknell believes that the Maga movement will not be the same without the president.

- Donald Trump is such a unique figure in American politics that it's hard to imagine that it just rolls on, she says.