Michael Reagan, the son of former President Ronald Reagan and once a staunch anti-Trump Republican, has had a surprising change of heart. The 79-year-old recently praised President Donald Trump in a series of social media posts, applauding his creation of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency for uncovering billions in wasteful spending—an effort he said would have made his father proud. He also took aim at Trump’s critics, accusing them of selectively invoking President Reagan’s legacy while ignoring his principles.
“FYI it is amazing that you all of a sudden support my father when for 8 yrs you treated him like you are treating Trump today,” he wrote in a post on X. “Give Trump time and get out of the way,” he added, noting: “Remember my dad ended up kicking your a**es.” Reagan’s sentiment is particularly surprising given his sharp criticism of Trump after he secured the GOP nomination in 2016. “This most likely would be the 1st time if my father was alive that he would not support the nominee of the GOP,” Reagan wrote at the time, tagging then-Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus.
Reagan’s disdain for President Trump persisted throughout his first term and beyond. In the 2024 Republican primary, he criticized Trump’s choice to skip debates with his lesser-known opponents, calling it a “serious mistake that weakens the Republican Party.” Ironically, he wrote in an op-ed at the time, “To me, what’s even more sad — and worrisome for the GOP’s chances in 2024 — is hearing Trump say he won’t promise to support whoever the party’s nominee is if it isn’t him.”
However, today, the son of President Reagan seems to be giving President Trump more flexibility in pursuing his MAGA agenda. After JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon shared a video of President Reagan criticizing tariffs on other nations, Michael Reagan responded with a post of his own. “Yes my father spoke about Tariffs when he was POTUS..that was 40yrs ago, it is different time with a different POTUS, for Gods sake quit using my father to bash Trump,” Reagan said on X.
Despite both Trump and Reagan’s time on television and in movies, the similarities stop there. President Trump’s dominance over the modern GOP has effectively erased any influence that Reagan ideologues once held. His populist stances on foreign affairs, illegal immigration, and domestic investments would be repulsive to most Republicans from the 1980s.
