For years, Trump has benefited from a symbiotic relationship with his hardcore supporters in right-wing media, allowing him to achieve narrative dominance that extends beyond conservative spaces. Now he’s showing signs of faltering; even Trump isn’t nativist enough for the top influencers on the right.

The current feud stems from Trump’s Tuesday interview with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, during which the president defended the H-1B visa program, which allows employers to sponsor foreign-born workers for some high-skilled jobs. To the MAGA faithful, Trump’s endorsement of some H-1Bs is akin to selling out all native-born workers to people they see as foreign-born replacements.

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There are good-faith critiques of the H-1B program that take as a starting point that all workers, regardless of citizenship status, deserve dignity and safety on the job. But MAGA media sees foreign-born invaders taking American jobs — a position unsupported by the data, which suggests these workers stimulate economic activity and benefit native-born workers in the aggregate.

The backlash to Trump suggests that on his signature issue — opposition to immigration — he has lost his grip on his base. The United States has a long history of nativism, and even Trump may not be able to control this latest spread.