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Hello and welcome to the American political ongoing coverage. I am Tom Ambrose, and I will be providing you with all the most recent news lines over the next few hours.

Trump Dismisses Marjorie Taylor Greene's Safety Concerns

We start with the news that Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of GOP congresswoman Representative Greene on the weekend, despite his shift on resisting the disclosure of the Epstein files.

He persisted in rejecting her assertion that his remarks were putting at risk her and said he did not think anyone was focusing on her. Greene said on Saturday that Trump’s social media posts had unleashed a surge of threats aimed at her.

“Greene the ‘Traitor’,” he remarked, speaking of the lawmaker. “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.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a US House of Representatives member from Georgia who was long known as a staunch Trump supporter, has recently adopted stances at odds with the commander-in-chief. She said on Saturday she has been contacted by private security firms expressing concern for her safety and that strong criticisms against her have in the past led to death threats.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Disclosure Push

The public fallout came as Trump urged his GOP colleagues in the legislature to vote for the publication of files related to the deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, reversing his earlier opposition to such a action.

Trump’s post on his social media platform came after Speaker Johnson said earlier that he believed a decision on releasing justice department documents in the Epstein case should help put to rest allegations “that he [Trump] has something to do with it”.

He posted on his Truth Social platform on that day: “House Republicans should support unsealing the Epstein files, because we have nothing to hide.

“Now is the moment to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by far-left activists in order to deflect from the significant achievements of the GOP, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown’,” he said.

Although the President and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the president has said the two men had a disagreement before Epstein's legal troubles. Emails released recently by a congressional panel indicated the convicted sex offender, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, thought the President “knew about the girls,” though it was uncertain what that statement signified.

Other Developments

• GOP representative Congressman Massie had questioned Trump over whether the commander-in-chief was making a “last-ditch effort” to prevent the full files on the late sex offender Epstein from becoming public by ordering a fresh investigation. The congressman and Democratic representative Representative Khanna, the two US representatives leading the cross-party effort to have all the files in the possession of the authorities available both raised fresh concerns about the steps by the White House.
• US forces carried out a further strike on an suspected narcotics smuggling vessel in the Pacific region on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of three people aboard, the Pentagon said on Sunday. “Intelligence verified that the boat was engaged in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” the military command stated in a message on social media.
• The President said the United States may open talks with President Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who faces growing scrutiny from Washington amid a huge US military buildup in the Caribbean region. “We may be having some discussions with the Venezuelan leader, and we’ll observe how that turns out. Venezuela would like to talk,” the commander-in-chief remarked on Sunday, in one of the first signs of a potential way to easing the growingly strained circumstances in the region.
• Trump on the weekend dismissed worries about right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson's latest discussion with a far-right activist known for his antisemitic views, which has created a schism within the Republican party. Trump supported the host, noting the ex-media personality has “expressed good things about me in the past.” He said if Carlson chooses to interview Nick Fuentes, whose followers see themselves as defending the nation's white, Christian identity, then “people have to make up their own minds.” He did not condemn Carlson or the activist.
• The President suggested on that day that he plans to have a discussion with New York City’s incoming mayor Mamdani and said they will “work something out”, in what could be a truce for the GOP leader and Democratic rising star who have portrayed one another as political foils. He has for an extended period criticized the mayor-elect, incorrectly describing him as a “communist” and forecasting the decline of his hometown, New York, if the democratic socialist were chosen.
• A group of seventeen trans military personnel has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for refusing them retirement benefits and entitlements. The complaint, submitted in federal court, describes the administration's action against them as “unlawful and invalid”.