MAGA's 'Manifest Destiny' – A Rebranded 'America First', Same Old Empire
The mainstream narrative paints this as a sudden, novel imperial turn for MAGA. Yet, for anyone paying attention, US foreign policy, regardless of administration, has consistently pursued hemispheric dominance, from the Monroe Doctrine onward. When Steve Bannon asks, "How can you get more 'America First' than Manifest Destiny 2.0?" ( NBC News ), he's not inventing a new ideology but merely
repackaging a historical one: the convenient justification for seizing lands and resources, whether from Indigenous peoples or nations deemed 'weaker.' Axios calls it a 'civilizational worldview' where America acts as 'enforcer of the West.' This euphemism for resource extraction and regime change has been the 'America First' approach for centuries, just with varying geographic targets. The 'new
chapter' is simply the same tired book with a different dust jacket. The real story isn't a MAGA pivot, but the enduring Washington consensus that designates certain regions as 'ours' for the taking, whether they're in the Middle East or America's own 'backyard.'