🔗 Share this article

Greetings and salutations to the US politics live blog. I am Tom Ambrose, and I will be bringing you all the latest developments over the coming hours.

Trump Dismisses Marjorie Taylor Greene's Danger Concerns

We start with the news that President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on Sunday, despite his reversal on opposing the disclosure of the Epstein files.

He continued to dismiss her claim that his criticism were endangering her and said he did not believe anyone was targeting her. The congresswoman remarked on Saturday that the President's online criticism had unleashed a surge of threats directed at her.

“Greene the ‘Traitor’,” he said, referring to the congresswoman. “I do not believe her life is in danger... I doubt anybody is concerned for her,” the president told reporters before boarding Air Force One on Sunday night.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a US House of Representatives member from the state of Georgia who was long known as a staunch Trump supporter, has recently taken positions contrary to the president. She noted on Saturday she has been alerted by security companies expressing concern for her safety and that harsh attacks against her have in the past resulted in threats on her life.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Release Initiative

This dispute occurred while the President encouraged his GOP colleagues in the legislature to vote for the publication of records concerning the deceased disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, changing his earlier opposition to such a move.

Trump’s post on his social media platform followed Speaker Johnson previously stated that he thought a vote on making public DOJ documents in the Epstein case should help put to rest claims “that he [Trump] has something to do with it”.

He posted on his Truth Social platform on that day: “GOP lawmakers should vote to release the Epstein documents, because we have nothing to hide.

“And it’s time to put behind us this political stunt orchestrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the government funding issue,” he added.

While Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the commander-in-chief has said the two men had a disagreement before Epstein's legal troubles. Emails released recently by a congressional panel indicated the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in jail in 2019, believed Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase meant.

Other Updates

• GOP representative Thomas Massie had questioned Trump over whether the commander-in-chief was making a “last-ditch effort” to prevent the full files on the deceased convicted criminal Epstein from becoming public by initiating a fresh investigation. Massie and Democratic representative Representative Khanna, the two lawmakers leading the cross-party effort to make all the documents in the possession of the government public both expressed new worries about the actions by the White House.
• The United States carried out another strike on an suspected drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of three individuals on board, the Pentagon announced on the following day. “Information confirmed that the vessel was involved in illegal drug trafficking, transiting along a established drug route, and carrying narcotics,” the military command announced in a post on online platforms.
• The President indicated the US may begin discussions with President Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who faces escalating pressure from the US government during a huge US military buildup in the Caribbean region. “We could initiate some discussions with the Venezuelan leader, and we’ll see how that turns out. Venezuela would like to talk,” the commander-in-chief said on that day, in one of the first signs of a possible path to easing the growingly strained circumstances in the area.
• Donald Trump on Sunday brushed aside worries about right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson's latest discussion with a extremist figure recognized for his antisemitic views, which has caused a division within the GOP. Trump supported the host, saying the ex-media personality has “expressed good things about me in the past.” He added if Carlson wants to interview Nick Fuentes, whose supporters consider themselves defending the nation's cultural heritage, then “individuals have to make up their own minds.” Trump did not criticize Carlson or the activist.
• Trump suggested on Sunday that he intends to meet with NYC's incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani and said they will “reach an agreement”, in what could be a truce for the GOP leader and Democratic rising star who have portrayed one another as opponents. He has for an extended period criticized the mayor-elect, incorrectly labelling him as a “communist” and predicting the ruin of his hometown, NYC, if the democratic socialist were chosen.
• A collective of seventeen transgender US air force members has filed a lawsuit against the federal government for refusing them retirement benefits and benefits. The complaint, filed in federal court, describes the government’s move against them as “unlawful and invalid”.