Trump Bus Rolls Over MAGA Mike

Mike Johnson discovers what every loyalist eventually learns: the Trump bus never stops, and sooner or later, everyone hears the engine rev as it rolls over them.

Guest article by Michael Cohen. Remember to follow him on Substack for more by clicking here. Michael is also racing to 500K followers on YouTube! Subscribe today for free here.

There’s a certain look people get right before Donald Trump throws them under the bus. I’ve seen it up close; hell, I’ve lived it. It’s a queasy cocktail of panic and delusion: panic because they know the wheels are already turning, and delusion because they still refuse to believe he’d do it to them. The latest to experience that special MAGA stomach drop is none other than Speaker Mike Johnson, a man whose spine has the structural integrity of a bendy straw and whose entire political identity is defined by one conviction: loyalty to Trump at all costs.

And what does he get for it?

A nice, clean, public shanking over the “Epstein files” discharge petition.

Welcome to the bus-tire club, Mike. Membership includes Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, Bill Barr, Mark Meadows, Jim Mattis, John Bolton, Rudy Giuliani, Nikki Haley, Reince Priebus, Chris Christie, Omarosa Manigault Newman, and Rex Tillerson; and of course, yours truly, the charter member and cautionary tale. It’s a long, sad, endlessly expanding roster of suckers who genuinely believed loyalty to Trump came with some kind of warranty. We even joke that the club motto should be: “We came for the power, we stayed for the betrayal.” Grab a seat. The snacks are terrible, the stories are depressing, and the only thing longer than the grievances list is the line of people waiting to get run over next.

Let’s cut to the chase: Trump yanked the rug from under Johnson so fast the man is probably still spinning like a church carnival ride. For months—months—Speaker Mike Johnson treated the Epstein files like radioactive waste sealed inside a suitcase hand-delivered by the devil himself. He cut the August week short when Democrats pushed votes to release the files. Then he kept the House out of session for nearly two months, conveniently slowing down the discharge petition from Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna. In Washington, a two-month delay isn’t an oversight; it’s strategy.

Johnson even went on record moaning about the “reckless disregard” used in drafting the petition. And trust me: when a man whose entire political worldview is built on reckless disregard for democratic norms suddenly discovers restraint, you know something is off.

But then comes the pivot—the kind of abrupt, calculated political shift that has defined the last decade of Washington. Trump reversed course, announced Republicans should vote for the measure, and said he would sign it. It wasn’t impulsive; it was strategic. When a topic becomes unavoidable, when the nation’s attention sharpens, when pressure builds, leaders make decisions based on the moment, the temperature, and the stakes. And in one move, months of Johnson’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering simply became irrelevant.

Mike Johnson learned the hardest lesson in Trumpworld: loyalty is a one-way street, and the traffic all moves toward Mar-a-Lago.

Now here’s the part that would be funny if it weren’t so embarrassing: Johnson is out here insisting that nothing has changed. Axios quotes a source saying “Johnson’s posture hasn’t changed,” like that’s some kind of intellectual stance. But on Monday, after Trump’s announcement, Johnson suddenly “opened the door” to supporting the bill; of course with conditions, because apparently he’s now the bouncer at a nightclub where truth and transparency need a VIP wristband.

“My support will be conditioned upon an agreement in the Senate,” he tells reporters, trying desperately to sound in control. Mike, my friend, the Senate doesn’t negotiate with political hostages—especially ones with bad haircuts and worse approval ratings. And sure enough, they passed it before Mike even remembered which elevator took him to his office.

The truth is simple: Johnson has been opposed to this thing from day one. He quietly warned his members to stay away from the discharge petition. He claimed the House Oversight Committee’s investigation would reveal “more information,” which in Hill-speak means: stall and hope the news cycle moves on.

And then there’s his favorite talking point: that the bill doesn’t “adequately protect Epstein’s victims.” Let me be crystal clear because I’ve dealt with this tactic before: using victims as human shields for political cowardice is the lowest form of moral bankruptcy. The bill explicitly directs the DOJ to redact identifying details and any child sexual abuse materials. Johnson knows that. He’s counting on the public not knowing that.

Here’s the part MAGA never learns: Trump demands absolute loyalty when it serves him, and then, like any political figure operating in pure self-interest, he moves in whatever direction reality requires. That’s politics. But Johnson, like so many before him, made the fatal mistake of thinking Trump’s political instincts wouldn’t eventually collide with his own self-preservation.

Mike Johnson thought he was different. They all do. We all do. He thought proximity to Trump’s orbit meant protection. But nobody is safe from political gravity—not from the truth, not from the files, and definitely not from the consequences of their own cowardice.

So yes, Mike Johnson is the newest addition to Trump’s ever-growing bus-tire collection. And trust me, the imprint never really fades.

The only remaining question—the one Johnson won’t ask himself, because denial is the glue holding MAGA together—is this:

Now that he’s been flattened by the very man he worships, does Mike Johnson finally see the light… or does he dutifully crawl back under the chassis and wait for the next wheel?

If history tells us anything, stupidly, it’s the latter.

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