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Greetings and salutations to the American political live blog. I am Tom Ambrose, and I will be providing you with all the most recent news lines over the next few hours.

Trump Rejects Marjorie Taylor Greene's Safety Claims

We begin with the development that President Donald Trump intensified his attacks against Republican lawmaker Representative Greene on Sunday, even as his reversal on resisting the disclosure of the Epstein files.

He persisted in rejecting her claim that his remarks were putting at risk her and said he did not believe anyone was focusing on her. Greene remarked on the previous day that Trump’s social media posts had triggered a wave of menaces aimed at her.

“Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene,” he said, referring to the lawmaker. “I don’t think her life is in danger... I doubt anybody cares about her,” Trump told reporters before entering his presidential plane on Sunday night.

Greene, a US House of Representatives representative from the state of Georgia who was previously considered a Trump loyalist, has lately adopted stances at odds with the commander-in-chief. She said on Saturday she has been contacted by security companies expressing concern for her safety and that harsh attacks against her have previously led to death threats.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Release Push

The public fallout occurred while Trump urged his fellow Republicans in Congress to vote for the publication of files concerning the deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, reversing his earlier resistance to such a move.

Trump’s post on his Truth Social came after Speaker Johnson said earlier that he thought a decision on making public justice department files in the Epstein case should help dispel claims “that he [Trump] has any involvement”.

Trump wrote on his social media account on that day: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein documents, because we have nothing to hide.

“Now is the moment to move on from this Democrat Hoax orchestrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to distract from the significant achievements of the GOP, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown’,” he said.

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 last week by a House committee showed the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in prison in recent years, thought Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was uncertain what that phrase meant.

Additional Updates

• Republican congressman Thomas Massie had questioned Trump over whether the US president was making a “final attempt” to prevent the complete records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public by ordering a fresh investigation. Massie and Democratic representative Representative Khanna, the two US representatives spearheading the cross-party effort to have all the files held by the authorities public both raised fresh concerns about the actions by the administration.
• The United States carried out another attack on an suspected narcotics smuggling vessel in the eastern Pacific on the weekend, killing three people aboard, the Department of Defense said on the following day. “Intelligence confirmed that the boat was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and transporting narcotics,” the military command announced in a message on social media.
• Trump indicated the US may begin discussions with President Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who faces growing scrutiny from Washington during a huge military deployment in the Caribbean region. “We could initiate some talks with Maduro, and we’ll see how that develops. Venezuela would like to talk,” the US president said on that day, in one of the first signs of a potential way to easing the growingly strained circumstances in the area.
• Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed concerns about right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson's latest interview with a extremist figure known for his antisemitic views, which has caused a division within the Republican party. The President supported the host, saying the former Fox News host has “said good things about me over the years.” He said if Carlson chooses to interview Nick Fuentes, whose followers see themselves as working to preserve America’s cultural heritage, then “individuals have to decide.” Trump did not condemn Carlson or Fuentes.
• Trump indicated on that day that he plans to meet with New York City’s incoming mayor Mamdani and stated 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. Trump has for an extended period criticized the mayor-elect, incorrectly labelling him as a “communist” and forecasting the decline of his city, NYC, if the progressive were elected.
• A collective of 17 trans military personnel has filed a lawsuit against the federal government for denying them retirement benefits and benefits. The legal filing, submitted in federal court, describes the administration's action against them as “unlawful and invalid”.