‘We need to bring more people in’: Donald Trump flips his script for the gazillionth time, after all that tough talk about a big, beautiful wall

Ideological consistency is hardly a hallmark of the MAGA movement, but its collective behavior since Trump’s election win is nothing short of chaotic. Against a backdrop of high profile spats and a massive and sudden opinion change regarding Mike Johnson, Donald Trump has come out with the mother of all flip flops.

Donald “Build a Wall” Trump, the man whose platform has always involved drastically cutting immigration to the U.S. as part of his America First strategy, has apparently changed his mind! Speaking to Fox News ahead of a New Year’s Eve celebration, Trump is videoed stating “we need a lot of people coming in.”

While there are many who would welcome increased immigration, especially from skilled migrants to fill gaps in the market, this is not a statement many would have expected Donald Trump to make. Not after his comments about Haitians, not after he spent years raging about a wall he never built, not after his platform purporting to put America and American people first.

This change in view comes after a highly publicized spat within the MAGA movement over H-1B visas, a type of visa granted to skilled migrants who meet certain criteria. The furore comes after multi-billionaire oligarch wannabe Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy spoke out about a “need” for increased immigration to fill jobs.

Critics from within the MAGA movement pointed out that providing new, high quality and high skill jobs for immigrants to the USA is the opposite of “America First,” and there was chaos within MAGA as the base argued against what they saw as a betrayal of their whole platform. And honestly? This time, they kind of have a point.

If an “America First” strategy doesn’t lead to increased and enhanced training, education, and job opportunities for ordinary Americans, then what’s the point? Unfortunately for the MAGA millions, in completely predictable scenes to anyone else who’s ever observed Donald Trump’s change-with-the-wind convictions, their dear leader changed his mind and left them scrambling in the dust.

Trump will always follow the money, and his association with figures like Elon Musk was never about efficiency or “top talent.” With his vast wealth, Musk can buy himself a seat at any table. Trump’s anti-immigration, pro-America stance crumbled as soon as his billionaire buddy Musk needed it to. Many Trump supporters took to X to discuss their disappointment in the incoming president’s flip flop, with responses ranging from angry, to sad, or even disillusionment with the entire political process:

As people all over the world “joke” about President Musk, the sad fact is that the joke looks increasingly more like a reality. Unfortunately for Trump and Musk, it seems like there are those within the MAGA base who aren’t buying it. Any politician betrays their base at their own peril, but this is even more dangerous when directly going against the core beliefs and values that got them elected in the first place.

While Trump may be willing to do whatever his best buddy Elon wants and needs due to a lack of anything resembling personal convictions or beliefs, there are signs of cracks in the MAGA base that might cause major headaches for Trump and his merry band of reprobates.