"At its core, MAGA is about tariffs and xenophobia. It's also about purported populism that favors tax cuts for the rich, brutal cuts to the social safety net, and attacks on free speech. On the foreign-policy front, the isolationism and deal-making that were supposed to characterize Trump's philosophy - he has vowed, at various points over the past decade, to not entangle America in new wars - has given way, over a number of months, to something darker: the longing for regime change."
"It's Secretary of State Marco Rubio who seems to be living his dream of steering the United States toward war with Venezuela and an overthrow of its autocratic president, Nicolás Maduro. Rubio has dodged scandal by behaving as a conventional neoconservative, implementing a vision that would appear entirely at odds with MAGA isolationism but is, for now, fully endorsed by Trump."
MAGA centers on tariffs and xenophobia alongside purported populism that delivers tax cuts for the rich, deep cuts to the social safety net, and assaults on free speech. Foreign policy has shifted from promised isolationism to a pursuit of regime change, with Venezuela targeted despite posing no serious threat to the United States. The inexperienced Defense secretary Pete Hegseth faces scrutiny for strikes near Venezuela, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio advances a neoconservative push for overthrowing Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. has deployed the U.S.S. Gerald R. Ford and roughly 10,000 regional troops, totaling over 15,000 personnel, marking the largest regional buildup in decades.
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