- Credits:
- Photo, AI Generated, Helen’s Place LLC. Photo Caption: A group of Trump voters pay respect at the Trump Shrine before moving on.
Helen’s Place LLC Update January 4, 2026
2026 will be the year we see the unravelling of MAGA, and Trump loyalists forced to move on. These are the true believers that are convinced that God is on their side and they have moral superiority. They are the Stephen Miller’s of the world – bigoted and destructive in various ways.
As politician Kathy Barnette so aptly said in 2020, “We were MAGA before there was MAGA” – meaning that America First was a thing before Trump came calling with his red hats and slogan, “Make America Great Again.”
The low information voter in search of belonging and feeling important is always part of human society, and will continue to believe in one or more conspiracy theories. This is why it was so easy for Trump to con them into feeling understood, loved and righteous. It remains to be seen where they end up.
The Forever? Cover Up
With 3 years to go in Trump’s presidency, the die-hard Trump loyalists will prop him up as long as possible. They will cover up his physical and mental decline through propaganda, AI tricks and lots of make-up. The Trump administration will continue the practice of deleting or editing transcripts and videos of Trump’s speeches to hide his dementia and mental illness.
A tell of the extent of Trump’s demented mind occurred when he trashed the great American Robb Reiner after his death. This is an example of why words like “depraved, unethical, vindictive, and unhinged” will be used more frequently in coming years by journalists to describe Trump’s tirades and attacks on his enemies.
Trump loyalists, on the other hand, are likely incapable of seeing themselves or the facts accurately any more than Trump is. This is why they will keep him as a figurehead and believe the lie that the 2020 election was stolen, as they move on to find a younger male replacement. After all, Joe Biden couldn’t possibly have gotten 80 million votes to win the 2020 election; their disdain for Democrats wouldn’t allow them to think any other way.
Epstein Files
But Trump loyalists are up against their beliefs when it comes to the Epstein files.
Adding to accepting Trump’s physical decline, the Epstein files are contributing to a quiet wake-up call: Trump was not the Savior as they thought he was. Trump had a part in Epstein’s successful pedophile ring – the extent of it is just not known yet.
Perhaps if researches went back to the beginning of their relationship and studied Epstein’s association with Trump in beauty pageants involving young girls, we would learn more.
MAGA loyalists will have a hard time squaring that Trump was a sexual predator too – and possibly not believe it in his lifetime or theirs. After all, the Epstein co-conspirators were supposed to be Democrats and members of the deep state according to conspiracy theorists; this is their view.
Trump will in history be associated with greed, stupidity, Epstein depravity and the worst president in 250 years. However, while he’s alive, he’ll likely be propped up by his fans as one of the greatest, and brought out on stage in his wheelchair to wave to adoring crowds.
Canary in the coal mine: Marjorie Taylor Green (MTG)
The reality of the Epstein files is causing many GOP members to leave Congress ahead of the 2026 midterms. Some just can’t stomach continuing with the Trump coverup of the truth.
One of the first defections in the House of Representatives was Marjorie Taylor Green (MTG) quitting on Jan 1, 2026 – a year early from the end of her term in office. When Trump called her a “traitor” for supporting Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, he gave her a great opportunity to quit, and provided her a way out of MAGA.
But it will be interesting to see how far Marjorie goes to keep the deep state 2020 stolen election myth going. She will likely go back to her conspiracy theory roots and support “Mom’s for Liberty,” book banning, all the anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+, and Islamophobic rhetoric.
In a 60 minutes interview on December 7, 2025 she said to Lesley Stahl that she wasn’t MAGA she was “America First,” but we don’t know what that means to her yet.
No doubt MTG will use her time to solidify herself as a political darling in the America First Movement. In the end she could play a role as a speaker for Turning Point USA, go on the lecture circuit, make public appearances, and many other things.
She will likely continue to distance herself from Trump and then see which way the wind blows in the American First Movement with the people she loves – among whom are her constituents, isolationists, and other Christian Nationalists.
Where The MAGA Crowd is Likely Headed: Turning Point USA
It’s already happening that the MAGA tent is shifting toward Turning Point USA led by very conservative women – the Christian Nationalist and Charlie Kirk’s widow, Erika Kirk. A new slogan Make God Great Again (MGGA) or something like it, could replace Trump’s brand, “MAGA.”
Just as the Turning Point big tent is replacing Trump rallies, Christian National fervor will continue to exist as long as prejudice exists in America. This tent of people will always be somewhere, and includes those wanting religious and social control of American citizens like Texas Governor Gregg Abbott.
As brainwashing propaganda is always the key, he like Turning Point is hoping to spread its curriculum in the schools in the name of God as they see it.
Interestingly, the Epstein files has caused a reconning about women’s role in our society.
As Nancy Pelosi quipped on December 13, 2025, “the idea of a woman being president is not going to happen in our lifetime as there’s not a glass ceiling but a marble ceiling.” So it makes sense that Erika Kirk on December 19, 2025 endorsed J.D. Vance for President in 2028.
But for many conservative women, the enslavement of women by men – with buy-in from women wanting more white babies – goes too far. This is one aspect of Turning Point that MTG may not go along with – after supporting Epstein victims, and her personal experience being burned by Donald Trump.
However, it’s likely that MTG will support a conservative, Christian man who at least PRETENDS that he wouldn’t put women in subservient roles in society.
The GOP Transition Beginning in 2026
As the Epstein files roll out and more is known about Trump’s involvement, it’s hard to imagine that independent voters and more moderate Trump supporters would continue doing his bidding of corruption, deception and revenge, when they themselves have a political risk to consider – like getting primaried out.
This is why some GOP house members will follow MTG lead, and retire before the midterms. However, the majority of the GOP will tough it out – playing the long game until Trump is gone. Until that time, the game is to support him until they don’t.
The Supreme Court will also stay with Trump as long as it’s politically advantageous to their conservative, religious-right cause, and then switch to whomever conservative emerges in power. Who could that be? J.D. Vance, Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz are contenders for President at the start of the New Year.
It’s possible that as Trump continues to show declining health – both mentally and physically – that J.D. Vance will assume the role as President under the 22th Amendment on or after January 20, 2027, and then run again for President in 2028.
Marco Rubio could be his Vice President if he doesn’t choose to run on his own. Then according to law, if J.D. Vance was elected in 2028, he could run for a second term in 2032, (as long as he’s able to wait to assume the presidency in 2027 with less than half the Trump term left).
One thing for certain is that the Trump’s heir apparent will continue to make Trump look good and in charge until he can seamlessly take over. To pull this off, he will work with Trump and his collaborators including the White House Staff, Trump’s Cabinet members, The Heritage Foundation, and the America First Policy Institute.
We’re likely to see more short videos, AI generated materials, prerecorded and staged press briefings, and shorter appearances by the president with time lapse delays for quick editing.
Then when the time is right, Trump will simply retire to relish his money and enjoy importance, with his Qatari plane and Trump Presidential Library. He will continue to be a wealthy, influential billionaire, and enjoy a satellite of visitors and the opulence of Mar-A-Lago until the end of his days.
Struggle within the GOP: Low Information Voters
Low information voters have a lot of conflict and much to sort out. The reality is that under the Trump Administration, in the next three years they are likely to suffer and be hurt the worst by Trump’s policies as they lose jobs, healthcare, and their freedom.
At the end of the Trump term, poverty will be worse than ever, China will have gained in stature, and Trump voters will have gained nothing.
However, it’s likely they will remain in some version of denial no matter what happens because they won’t admit that they followed a con man, liar, and a cheat down the rabbit hole – convinced that Donald Trump would save them if they were loyal, and somehow it wasn’t his fault when this didn’t happen.
Loyal Opposition
The loyal opposition is far better off than the Trump voter, because they benefit from the ability to understand what’s going on accurately and therefore, can take appropriate action to survive.
Hope in 2025 Carried Over to Future Years
The majority of non-MAGA voters have moved on from the shock and disbelief that someone like Trump could have been elected by Americans and is attempting to destroy America’s freedom. It happened.
The times we live in harken back to the American Revolutionary War when at the end of the war General Washington declared it was okay for slave owners to reclaim their slaves – some of whom fought with the Revolutionaries on the side of America. It also harkens back to the time during WWII that we wrongfully rounded up and detained Japanese Americans in internment camps.
In other words, we have repeated our mistake numerous times – and now under the Trump Regime – again in history – that is to believe that some groups of people living in America should be rounded up and deported, discredited or enslaved.
Fortunately we have patriotic Americans and leaders who are organizing non-violent protests:
- Timothy Snyder, author of “On Tyranny,” reminds us that we should never cede power to an authoritarian regime that they don’t have.
- Groups like Indivisible organize “No Kings” events across America.
- Rachel Madow, MS NOW, covering the spontaneous protests across America.
- Transformational leaders – like Mamdani in NYC, Zelensky in Ukraine, and Pope Leo at the Vatican (carrying on for Pope Francis), help us keep moral clarity and courage to fight for democracy and humanity.
- Legal organizations filing lawsuits against the Trump Administration’s unlawful activities, and the American legal system holding-up and fighting for democracy and the rule of law.
- Finally we have the comics modeling defiance like Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel.
Hope by 2032
That the higher ideals will win out. That Pope Leo and the bible’s message will win out – to love thy neighbor as thyself. After all we elected Barack Obama twice.
That we will become a country with a majority of voters wised-up to save America from an authoritarian regime. Also that the tech bro billionaires don’t win either so that checks and balances prevail to keep monopolies under control from dominating society.
That we will find a way to tell the truth again in public education where textbooks and lesson plans must be historically accurate, and we will find a way to balance social media and AI usage.
Conclusion
Some might say that it’s easier to just say that the human condition is sorry and so why bother. But there are those who will NEVER give up on believing that it’s possible for humans to do and be better with proper training. Higher level consciousness doesn’t happen by itself for most people, but America is worth fighting for today as it was during the Revolutionary War.
For example, Americans can learn in the future not to allow a wanna-be dictator to obtain power again, as the Japanese learned after WWII.
We can ensure that schools do better job helping students understand propaganda and what to look for to resist being influenced by it.
Finally, we can we learn to be more respectful of other people, despite our differences. Hopefully, if the Democrats are ever back in power they will listen and do a better job to address the concerns of all Americans. Although low information voters will always be with us, hopefully, one day America can reduce the number of conspiracy theorists to a noisy, cranky minority that never gains power again.
