“Make America Great Again” or MAGA is an American political slogan which was popularized by Donald Trump during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in the arts, entertainment and politics, being used by those who support and oppose the presidency of Donald Trump.

Since its popularization in the 2010s, the slogan has been accused by some of being a loaded phrase. Multiple journalists, scholars, and commentators have called the slogan racist, regarding it as dog-whistle politics and coded language. Some have rejected the racist characterization, saying that the slogan is instead patriotic or American nationalist.

In December 2011, Trump made a statement in which he said he was unwilling to rule out running as a presidential candidate in the future, explaining “I must leave all of my options open because, above all else, we must make America great again.” Also in December 2011, he published a book using as a subtitle the similar phrase “Making America #1 Again” – which in a 2015 reissue was changed to “Make America Great Again!”

On January 1, 2012, a group of Trump supporters filed paperwork with the Texas Secretary of State’s office to create the “Make America Great Again Party”, which would have allowed Trump to be that party’s nominee if he had decided to become a third-party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Trump himself began using the slogan formally on November 7, 2012, the day after Barack Obama won his reelection against Mitt Romney. By his own account, Trump first considered “We Will Make America Great”, but did not feel like it had the right “ring” to it. “Make America Great” was his next slogan idea, but upon further reflection, he felt that it was a slight to America because it implied that America was never great. After selecting “Make America Great Again”, Trump immediately had an attorney register it. (Trump later said he was unaware of Reagan’s use in 1980 until 2015, but noted that “he didn’t trademark it.”) On November 12 he signed an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office requesting exclusive rights to use the slogan for political purposes. It was registered as a service mark on July 14, 2015, after Trump formally began his 2016 presidential campaign and demonstrated that he was using the slogan for the purpose stated on the application. Trump used the slogan in public as early as August 2013, in an interview with Jonathan Karl.

During the 2016 campaign, Trump often used the slogan, especially by wearing hats emblazoned with the phrase in white letters, which soon became popular among his supporters. The slogan was so important to the campaign that at one point it spent more on making the hats – sold for $25 each on its website – than on polling, consultants, or television commercials. Millions were sold, and Trump estimated that counterfeit versions outnumbered the real hat ten to one. “… but it was a slogan, and every time somebody buys one, that’s an advertisement.”

Following Trump’s election, the website of his presidential transition was established at greatagain.gov. Trump said in 2017 and 2018 that the slogan of his 2020 reelection campaign would be “Keep America Great” and he sought to trademark it. However, Trump’s 2020 campaign continued to use the “Make America Great Again” slogan. Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, used the phrase “make America great again, again” in his 2020 Republican National Convention speech, garnering ridicule and comparisons to the catchphrase “again-again” from Teletubbies. In late 2021, this phrase became the name of a pro-Trump Super-PAC, which was also mocked.

A 2020 executive order, titled “Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture,” was nicknamed “Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again” by proponents and the press.

Less than a week after Trump left office, he spoke to advisors about possibly establishing a third party, which he suggested might be named either the “Patriot Party” or “Make America Great Again Party”. In his first few days out of office, he also supported Arizona state party chairwoman Kelli Ward, who likewise called for the creation of a “MAGA Party”. In late January 2021, the former president viewed the proposed MAGA Party as leverage to prevent Republican senators from voting to convict him during the Senate impeachment trial, and to field challengers to Republicans who voted for his impeachment in the House.

The phrase is being used again as the official slogan of Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.