A Pennsylvania voter who backed Donald Trump in the 2024 election says he now feels “completely swindled” by the president after what he describes as a series of broken promises and political betrayals.
Morgen Mogus, chair of the Libertarian Party of Butler County, shared his frustration in a USA Today op-ed published Saturday titled “I voted for Trump. I feel completely swindled.”
“A year after the presidential election, I feel completely swindled,” Mogus wrote. “If the 2024 presidential election were held today, I would sit it out. I am, however, extremely likely to vote in the upcoming 2026 midterm and the 2028 general elections.”
Mogus said his decision to vote for Trump — his first time supporting a Republican for president — came after the then-candidate’s outreach to libertarians. “He came to our national convention, promised to stay out of wars and slash government spending and useless programs with Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. But none of it happened,” he said.
According to Mogus, Trump has failed to deliver on nearly every promise he made to libertarian voters. “The only thing Trump did do was pardon Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, which I am very grateful for, but he has fallen completely flat on his face on all of his other promises,” he wrote.
Mogus also accused the president of turning against key libertarian figures. “Now he is going after libertarians like Rep. Thomas Massie and Sen. Rand Paul, both representing Kentucky. A complete betrayal,” he said.
While Mogus acknowledged that he supported some of the administration’s early cost-cutting measures, he said things quickly deteriorated. “What DOGE found in terms of cuts was great, but right after that came the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and continuing resolutions that undid all of their progress by leaps and bounds,” he wrote.
He called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” — or OBBB — one of the most excessive spending packages in modern history. “OBBB is one of the largest spending packages in recent U.S. history, from the candidate who ran on cutting wasteful spending and is going after Massie and Paul because they recognized it for what it was.
What DOGE tried to do was great and am supportive of the spending cuts that did come of it, but the fallout of the OBBB put a damper on all the progress made. Musk rightfully called it an abomination.” Mogus ended his piece by reaffirming his libertarian stance and disappointment, saying Trump’s presidency has “betrayed the very principles he claimed to defend.”