The expression about having the wolf by the ear dates back to the Roman Emperor Tiberius (42 BC- 37 AD). Tiberius saw danger around every corner and rightfully so. The Senate was furious with him; Roman legions had not been paid the bonuses promised to them by Augustus and were showing signs of mutiny. His adopted son, Germanicus, died of poisoning, and his other son, Drusus, died in mysterious circumstances. There were real plots against Tiberius, and nobody he could trust. He described his circumstances as having the wolf by the ear, knowing if he ever let go, the wolf would turn on him.
Thomas Jefferson often used the phrase. Jefferson wrote to John Holmes in 1820 about having the wolf by the ears and the ramifications of letting go. The topic in this case was enslavement and the Missouri Compromise.
But, as it is, we have the wolf by the ear, and we can neither hold him, nor safely let him go. Justice is in one scale, and self-preservation in the other.
- Jefferson to John Holmes
I never thought I’d find myself comparing Donald Trump to Tiberius and Thomas Jefferson, but these are strange times, and the wolf Trump has a tenuous hold on is named MAGA. Unlike Tiberius and Jefferson, MAGA isn’t something he inherited but a creature of his own making. The framework for MAGA has existed since at least 1865, rising and falling in waves. The feelings on white nationalism and self-pity were there. Trump gave them a name and a cause. The name was MAGA, the cause was himself.
Like wolves, MAGA constantly needed to be fed. They had real beliefs about being failed by the government and that someone had taken something from them. Their logic was self-fulfilling, and it must be true because they could see for themselves that others had more. Someone must have cheated them, and Trump was there to point to the Swamp, Democrats, immigrants, and Black people. It wasn’t billionaires who had robbed them blind, but DEI and the social welfare programs that MAGA were the primary beneficiaries of.
Trump promised MAGA more income, less taxes, no foreign wars, and prosecutions of those who had previously failed them. Trump was going to jail Hillary, Obama, and Biden, and MAGA thought it would be so. It was a throwaway line during the campaign when Trump promised to release the Epstein Files. It was a promise never intended to be kept. Trump had too much to lose with their release. If his name were in them, people would demand an investigation. If he were excluded, people would wonder why, particularly because of his known links to Epstein and Elon Musk saying Trump’s name was there.
Trump was in a lose/lose situation with the Epstein Files; it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that shortly after Attorney General Pam Bondi said the files and a client list were on her desk, Bondi came back and said there was no list at all and never had been. Trump acolytes J.D. Vance, Pam Bondi, Dan Bongino, and Kash Patel had promoted a theory for years that the government was covering up a child trafficking ring led by Epstein, who died mysteriously in federal prison under related charges. MAGA had been fed this theory (among others) and demanded retribution. Say what you will about MAGA, you cannot say they don’t love their children. MAGA saw Bondi's statement that there was no client list as a slap in the face. Trump made things worse with the Truth Social equivalent of telling MAGA to “Shut up and dribble.” MAGA is pissed and isn’t afraid to let Trump know.
“This statement breaks my heart, Mr. President. I have four daughters, and live in Texas, where families have lost little children. I can’t even begin to comprehend the flipped narrative that ‘it was so long ago,’ ‘why are we still talking about this,’ and ‘nobody should care.’ These victims were someone's daughters, sisters, nieces, and grandchildren. Someone’s child. Please reconsider, sir. I voted for everything you are doing! Accountability was not something negotiable.”
“We want the ELITE PEDOS exposed! You promised us that. Pam promised us that. Kash promised us that. Now it’s OUR fault bc we want that promise fulfilled and call Pam out every time she lies? What else has she lied to us about?”
Tiberius inherited a tenuous situation in ancient Rome. Jefferson didn’t create the American-style chattel slavery that caused many to fear what would happen when it ended. Trump, however, has no one to blame but himself for the chickens coming to roost after pushing a plethora of lies on his willing MAGA recipients.
I admit it was the Epstein files that caused his followers to turn on him. I thought it would be Medicaid, Medicare, or Social Security cuts that did him in after promising he’d never cut them. It might have been the Ukraine/Russia War or the continuing struggles in the Middle East, which he promised to end on his first day in office. Surely it would be his tariffs that have upended the world economy, causing prices to rise and making for fewer dolls and toys for Christmas. The one lie I never thought anyone believed was that he’d release a client list that might include himself or his close friends should he have any.
Unlike the days when Republicans dared not speak out against Trump for fear of retribution. People are lining up to demand that Trump follow through on his promise to release the client list. The finely worded denial that Epstein himself never compiled a list flies in the face of the reality that there must have been the means to contact the men who shared Epstein's passion for underage girls. If there isn’t a specific list, the FBI or Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Department could surely compile one based on their interviews of hundreds of girls, flight logs of the Lolita Express, and photos including Prince Andrew with a girl who has publicly named him.
“When You Start the Fire, Sometimes You Can’t Put It Out” — Chris Christie
Steve Bannon and Elon Musk have spoken out, and so have Ann Coulter and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Alex Jones was brought to tears, and Tucker Carlson demanded justice. Chris Christie said, “Let’s be clear about this… There’s no chance, in my opinion, that Pam Bondi made this decision on her own. She was instructed by the White House that we’re not releasing this stuff, and that’s why he’s defending her.” The most harmful thing to Trump is that his entire base is wondering what else he has lied to them about.
So Trump now has a wolf by the ear. One who won’t listen, one that he can’t control. He may be able to threaten politicians, lawyers, and corporations, but the individual members of MAGA are beyond his control. They won’t be told to shut up and dribble, and nothing he can say will make them forget they have daughters. They might even realize they have parents and grandparents who rely on Medicaid, and that the rural hospitals shutting down because of DOGE cuts will affect their relatives. Wait until they do their Christmas shopping, unless Trump cuts have cost them their jobs, and they won’t be doing any. Baby steps.
This post originally appeared on Medium and is edited and republished with author's permission. Read more of William Spivey's work on Medium. And if you dig his words, buy the man a coffee.