Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has delivered a scathing critique of President Donald Trump, rejecting his “MAGA” label and accusing her former ally of inciting death threats against her family.
In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes which aired on Sunday, the Georgia Republican detailed the fracture in her relationship with the President. Greene, a conservative hardliner who was once one of Trump’s staunchest defenders, announced last month that she intends to resign from Congress on 5 January, a full year before her term concludes.
When asked by interviewer Lesley Stahl if she still identified as “MAGA”, Greene demurred.
“I am America First,” Greene said. “MAGA is President Trump’s phrase. That’s his political policies. I call myself America First.”
She argued that the President had failed to uphold the core tenets of that philosophy. “For an ‘America First’ president, the number one focus should have been domestic policy, and it wasn’t,” she said. “Once we fix everything here, then fine, we’ll talk to the rest of the world.”
The Rift Over Epstein Files
The conflict between Greene and the White House intensified after she broke with party leadership to sign a bipartisan discharge petition forcing a vote on the release of government files regarding the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Greene recounted a phone call in which Trump attempted to persuade her to abandon the effort. “He was extremely angry at me,” she told Stahl. “He was furious… He said it was going to hurt people.”
Despite the pressure, Greene and three other House Republicans persisted. The bill eventually passed the Senate unanimously, and Trump quietly signed it into law. However, the President publicly attacked her as “Marjorie Traitor Greene”.
Greene noted the timing of these attacks coincided with Trump hosting controversial figures.
“He did this in the same time span where President Trump brought in the Al Qaeda leader that was wanted by the US government, who is now the president of Syria,” she said. “Then, within a week, he brought in the Crown Prince MBS [Mohammed bin Salman], who murdered an American journalist. And then he brought in the newly elected Democrat Socialist mayor of New York [Zohran Mamdani].”
Death Threats and a “Toxic” Culture
Greene stated that the President’s ire resulted in numerous death threats against her and her son. When she shared these threats with Trump, she described his response as “extremely unkind” and involving “harsh accusatory replies and zero sympathy”.
Trump dismissed her concerns publicly, stating: “I don’t think her life is in danger… I don’t think anybody cares about her.”
In a post on X on Sunday, Greene contrasted the President’s reaction with other administration officials. She noted that she sent the threats to FBI Director Kash Patel, who replied he was “on it”, and Vice President JD Vance, who she said responded “promptly with kindness and sympathy”.
Greene described the current political environment as “the most toxic political culture”, claiming that fellow Republicans are “terrified” of defying the President. “I think they’re terrified to step out of line and get a nasty Truth Social post on them,” she said.
When Stahl suggested that Greene had contributed to this toxicity by “insulting people”, the Congresswoman pushed back, calling the interviewer “accusatory”.
Beyond the Epstein controversy, Greene cited disagreements over domestic policy as a driver for her resignation. She specifically pointed to affordability and health insurance issues, noting that she sided with Democrats during a government shutdown to address these concerns—a move that precipitated the initial dispute with Trump.
“I will be no one’s battered wife… and I won’t allow the system to abuse me anymore,” she said regarding her departure.
White House Responds
The White House disputed Greene’s characterisation of the President’s record. In a statement issued Sunday night, spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Trump had “delivered on many of the promises he was elected to enact”, citing border security, lower drug prices, and the elimination of taxes on tips and overtime.
“As the architect of the MAGA movement, President Trump will always put America First,” Jackson said.
Despite the high-profile break, Greene insisted she has “zero plans, zero desire” to run for president in 2028, nor does she intend to run for the Senate or governor.