Disagreements between Donald Trump and Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have ballooned into a public feud, signalling a breakdown in relations between the US president and one of his fiercest defenders.
On Friday, Trump called Greene “wacky” in social media posts and said she should be unseated in next year’s elections. On Saturday, he called her a “traitor”.
Greene has in recent days questioned whether Trump was still putting “America First” and criticised his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The feud comes as the House is set to consider whether to release the files to the public.
“All I see “Wacky” Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” Trump posted on Friday night, claiming that she turned on him after he suggested that she shouldn’t run for governor or senator in her home state of Georgia.
“She has told many people that she is upset that I don’t return her phone calls anymore,” Trump said, adding: “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.”
He pledged to back any Republican opponent that takes her on in next year’s midterm elections, when she is up for reelection, before intensifying his attacks in social media posts on Saturday from his home in Florida.
“Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Green [sic] is a disgrace to our GREAT REPUBLICAN PARTY!” he wrote.
The comments follow days of criticism from Greene, who has said that Trump is not doing enough to bring down costs for voters. She also denounced his recent decisions in foreign conflicts and on tariff policies.
But she has been most critical of his approach to handling the Epstein files.
The turnaround is remarkable for a lawmaker who stood by Trump during multiple scandals, most notably the Capitol riot in 2021 when Trump supporters stormed the US legislature in an attempt to block Trump’s election defeat.
The US president also vigorously defended Greene when she was accused of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories.
Greene is one of only four House Republicans who joined Democrats in signing a discharge petition calling for the release of the Epstein files last week.
On Friday, Greene posted on X that Trump was trying to stop other Republicans from voting in favour of the Epstein petition.
“He’s coming after me hard to make an example to scare all the other Republicans before next weeks vote to release the Epstein files,” she posted, adding: “It’s astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level.”
She returned to X on Saturday to say Trump’s had made her a target for threats “fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world”.
“As a Republican, who overwhelmingly votes for President Trump’s bills and agenda, his aggression against me… is completely shocking to everyone,” she wrote.
“I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump,” she wrote in one post.
Former Republican pollster and strategist Robert Moran said it was clear the US president did not want the Epstein files to be released and “is trying to pressure” Greene.
Mr Moran doubted the row would affect Trump’s popularity as the electorate was so divided, but said it was inevitable the files would eventually come out.
“Many of his voters are sceptical of power and so they want power to be held to account, and they support the release of these files,” he added.
Trump has long faced criticism from both parties over his handling of the US Department of Justice files related to Epstein, the late financier and convicted paedophile.
Trump was a friend of Epstein’s for years, but the US president has said they fell out in the early 2000s, two years before Epstein was first arrested. Trump has consistently denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein.
