The everyday reality of governing versus the hype of executive diktats is setting in for some longtime Donald Trump supporters.

It was on display most vividly last Thursday at a cabinet meeting where Trump refereed a shouting match between his DOGE enforcer Elon Musk and his Secretaries of State, Transportation and Veterans Affairs.

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The crowd did not like that at all.

“Simmering anger at the billionaire’s unchecked power spilled out in a remarkable Cabinet Room meeting,” read a headline in The New York Times, scooping the “explosive” encounter.

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“The meeting was a potential turning point after the frenetic first weeks of Mr. Trump’s second term,” the Times wrote.

“Cabinet officials almost uniformly like the concept of what Mr. Musk set out to do — reducing waste, fraud and abuse in government — but have been frustrated by the chain saw approach to upending the government and the lack of consistent coordination.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio had been “privately furious” with Musk for weeks before unloading on the billionaire in front of Trump, who “sat back in his chair, arms folded, as if he were watching a tennis match.”

While the secretaries’ frustrations remained private before news of the meeting leaked, “The session laid bare the tensions within Mr. Trump’s team.”

Other MAGA acolytes have gone public with their doubts about Trump’s actions.

On Fox News, ardent Trump fan Maria Bartiromo, who reports on Wall Street for the pro-Trump news network, admitted, “The jobs picture is weakening!”

On the same network, Making Money host Charles Payne predicted, “The boom times are over.” 

The comments are the “latest indication that Trump’s political project is suddenly looking quite fragile,” New Republic’s Greg Sargent observed. “And it’s a sign that more dissent is coming.”

Dissatisfaction with Musk’s DOGE team and the chaos it has unleashed, including “chain saw” cuts to programs and false claims of massive savings, led General Services Administration official Thomas Shedd to implore his staffers, “I need wins to defend.”

“A growing portion of the public sees DOGE as callous and undisciplined, a narrative reinforced by news reports about fired military veterans, hours-long waits to file retirement claims and threatened benefits for 9/11 survivors,” The Washington Post reports.

“Almost 50 percent of Americans ‘disapprove’ of Elon Musk’s work within the federal government, versus 34 percent that approve, according to a recent Washington Post-Ipsos poll.”  

“Trump World is rattled and in CYA-mode about Musk’s cuts,” noted conservative commentator Charlie Sykes in an interview with Politico‘s Jonathan Martin.

“Something is afoot,” Sykes said.

Martin quoted a senior Republican close to Trump, who reportedly admitted that the “air is going to come out of the balloon.”

Ben Shapiro, the far-right conservative commentator who held a front-row seat in the gallery for President Trump‘s Joint Address to Congress last week, felt compelled to take issue with Trump‘s tariff threats against Canada in a post to his nine million followers on Facebook.

“Canada is the number one trade partner of the United States. They are not a financial or economic or physical threat to the United States,” Shapiro said. “Treating them as such is not a wise move.”

The critiques extend to Trump’s loyal MAGA voters on the ground in North Carolina, where residents say the effects of Hurricane Helene aren’t being addressed by the current administration, which is moving to eliminate FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“I have found myself questioning this new administration. What are they going to do?” asked Trump voter Gary Hicks. “I know he’s only been in office for a month. But let’s start seeing some results.”

Michael Cohen, Trump’s one-time fixer and no fan of the president, said it would be Trump’s most ardent fans who would undo him.

“You screw over 72.5 million people, and you pay the price,” Cohen said of Trump voters in a post on his substack.

“But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel,” he added. “Musk’s economic jihad against working Americans will be the thing that sinks Trump’s presidency and the Republican party. And for once, the chaos will actually work in the favor of the American people.”

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