In recent years the United States’ political landscape has been profoundly transformed by the rapid rise of the “conservative” MAGA movement. A prominent theme running through the current Republican/MAGA agenda is that of popular sovereignty. Donald Trump’s followers portray him as the embodiment of the People’s will claiming a superior mandate based on his landslide victory in the 2024 presidential election, in which he has secured not only the Electoral College support, but also the majority of the popular vote. Anyone who follows the history of American conservatism will find it unusual that this presumably right-wing movement revolves around the actions of the federal chief executive. No other cause has been historically as important for the anti-establishment right-wing movements in the United States as regional autonomy and self-rule. Such a striking rearrangement of loyalty in favour of the federal authority goes beyond ordinary political fluctuations and requires a more nuanced explanation.

            This article hypothesises that what we are currently witnessing in the MAGA rhetoric is not merely a temporary shift of allegiances within the conservative movement towards the federal power, but a historic attempt to reformulate the very meaning of “conservatism” and reshape the United States’ political agenda. The current administration and its sympathisers create much ado around the “cultural” issues, thereby hiding the real assault on the essential features of the constitutional structure and the republican worldview it embodies. This shift favours a view of progressive democratic governance, which has nothing to do with the political tradition imprinted in the Constitution.