🔗 Share this article

Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. I am Tom Ambrose, and I will be bringing you all the most recent developments over the coming hours.

Trump Dismisses Marjorie Taylor Greene's Danger Claims

We begin with the news that President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against Republican lawmaker Representative Greene on the weekend, despite his reversal on opposing the disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein documents.

He continued to dismiss her assertion that his remarks were endangering her and stated he did not think anyone was targeting her. Greene remarked on Saturday that the President's social media posts had triggered a surge of menaces aimed at her.

“Greene the ‘Traitor’,” he said, speaking of the congresswoman. “I do not believe her life is in danger... I doubt anybody cares about her,” the president told the press before entering Air Force One on Sunday evening.

Greene, a US House of Representatives member from Georgia who was long known as a Trump loyalist, has lately taken positions contrary to the president. She noted on Saturday she has been contacted by private security firms expressing concern for her safety and that harsh attacks against her have in the past led to threats on her life.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Disclosure Initiative

The public fallout came as Trump urged his GOP colleagues in the legislature to support the release of files concerning the late convicted sex offender Epstein, reversing his earlier opposition to such a move.

Trump’s post on his Truth Social followed Speaker Johnson previously stated that he thought a decision on making public DOJ files in the Epstein investigation should help dispel claims “that he [Trump] has something to do with it”.

Trump wrote on his social media account on Sunday: “GOP lawmakers should support unsealing the Epstein files, because we have no secrets.

“And it’s time to put behind us this political stunt orchestrated by far-left activists in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown’,” he said.

Although Trump and Epstein were seen together years back, the president has claimed the two men had a disagreement before Epstein’s convictions. Messages disclosed last week by a House committee indicated the convicted sex offender, who took his own life in prison in 2019, thought Trump “was aware of the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase signified.

Additional Developments

• Republican congressman Thomas Massie had questioned Trump over whether the US president was making a “final attempt” to keep the full files on the deceased convicted criminal Epstein from being disclosed by ordering a fresh investigation. The congressman and Democratic congressman Representative Khanna, the two US representatives leading the cross-party effort to have all the files in the possession of the authorities public both raised fresh concerns about the steps by the White House.
• The United States conducted a further strike on an alleged narcotics smuggling boat in the Pacific region on Saturday, killing three people aboard, the Pentagon said on the following day. “Information verified that the boat was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a established drug route, and carrying narcotics,” the military command announced in a post on social media.
• Trump indicated the United States may begin discussions with Nicolas Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, who is under growing scrutiny from the US government during a significant military deployment in the Caribbean region. “We may be having some discussions with the Venezuelan leader, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would want to talk,” the US president said on Sunday, in one of the first signs of a potential way to defusing the growingly strained situation in the region.
• Trump on Sunday brushed aside worries about conservative commentator Tucker Carlson's recent discussion with a far-right activist known for his antisemitic views, which has created a schism within the GOP. Trump defended the host, noting the ex-media personality has “said positive remarks about me in the past.” He said if Carlson wants to interview the activist, whose supporters consider themselves working to preserve the nation's cultural heritage, then “people have to make up their own minds.” Trump did not condemn Carlson or the activist.
• The President indicated on that day that he plans to have a discussion with NYC's incoming mayor Mamdani and said they will “work something out”, in what could be a detente for the Republican president and Democratic rising star who have cast each other as opponents. He has for an extended period criticized Mr Mamdani, falsely labelling him as a “socialist” and predicting the ruin of his city, New York, if the democratic socialist were elected.
• A group of 17 transgender US air force members has sued the Trump administration for refusing them early retirement pensions and benefits. The complaint, submitted in a US court, characterizes the administration's action against them as “illegal and unjustified”.