Most of us wanted AMERICANS first. Not Israel first, not Argentina first. Most of us wanted the truth about who the blackmail clients of Epstein were, and who was funding him. Most of us wanted MAGA, and Trump seems to have forgot that.
You can judge me for bEiNg A lEfTiSt RiNo. But I was never a republican. I was never totally right leaning, the extremists would SAY I am right wing, but I never have been full right. I am always center, and I am always going to point out BS if I see it.
Here is where the break happened for me.
HUD programs that directly help low income Americans were targeted for major reductions. Housing programs that keep people off the street, including project based vouchers and rental support programs, were put on the chopping block in the administration’s published 2025 proposals. The FY26 budget request sought a forty three percent cut to public housing, vouchers, and rental assistance, along with a twelve percent cut to homelessness programs. Section 8 was included in the list of programs that would see reduced funding.
Sources: https://www.nlihc.org/resource/trump-administration-releases-additional-details-fy26-budget-request-slashing-hud-rental, https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-budget-public-housing-funding-cuts
Then SNAP. During the SNAP freeze in 2025, states were told to pause or roll back benefits. This happened during the shutdown fight. The USDA told states to undo full SNAP payments for November and warned that any full benefit issuances were unauthorized. Millions of low income families were left with no benefits during the first half of November.
Sources: https://apnews.com/article/snap-benefits-trump-administration-demands-undo-states-d433f20df4d461db506e0d327a58d3c1, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/10/snap-workers-trump-administration-funding
And the shutdown in 2025 made it even clearer. Democrats refused to agree to cuts to ACA premium tax credits and to new Medicaid restrictions. When the shutdown ended, the ACA subsidies that were expiring were not restored. Without these subsidies, insurers face higher unpaid medical costs and a risk pool that becomes more expensive. This cost increase does not stay inside the exchanges. Insurers raise premiums across the entire market, including employer and private plans.
Sources: https://www.medicarerights.org/medicare-watch/2025/11/13/shutdown-to-end-but-access-to-affordable-aca-marketplace-plans-still-at-risk, https://www.ajmc.com/view/government-shutdown-concluded-but-aca-subsidies-in-limbo, https://www.kff.org/medicaid/tracking-the-medicaid-provisions-in-the-2025-budget-bill
And here is another part that shows how broken this has become. During the campaign, Trump’s circle pushed the claim that he would release the Epstein files. Donald Trump Jr said transparency was coming. Kash Patel said full disclosure was coming. Others repeated that all visitor logs and records would be released if Trump won. In 2025, none of this happened. No files were released. The DOJ under Pam Bondi stated there was no client list and no credible evidence of blackmail.
Sources: https://www.newsweek.com/trump-epstein-files-maga-anger-fbi-patel-committee-2025-1923459, https://www.newsweek.com/pam-bondi-epstein-client-list-justice-department-statement-2025-1923375
And the idea that only Trump was connected to Epstein is false. Epstein’s network included figures from both political parties. Bill Clinton had multiple documented flights on Epstein’s jet. Major Democratic donors and academics had documented associations. Unsealed documents in 2024 listed more than one hundred seventy Epstein associates across politics, business, and academia.
Sources: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/04/epstein-documents-unsealed-list, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/10/us/epstein-gates-ito-mit.html
So when political influencers promise transparency and deliver nothing, and when both sides point fingers while ignoring their own, it shows the depth of the problem. The system protects powerful circles, not Americans.
So when I hear America First, but I see cuts to housing support, food support, healthcare support, and silence on the Epstein disclosures that were promised, it does not match. The Americans losing Section 8, losing SNAP, losing affordable insurance, and losing Medicaid support are Americans. Kids. Parents. Seniors. Veterans. Working poor.
I am still all about making America great again. I always have been. I just do not think Trump is heading in that direction anymore, and many are locked into loyalty that prevents them from admitting what is in front of them.
If we say America First, then the people living on American soil, struggling, should not be last.