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Greetings and salutations to the US politics ongoing coverage. I am Tom Ambrose, and I will be bringing you all the most recent news lines over the next few hours.

Trump Rejects Greene's Danger Concerns

We start with the development that Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene on the weekend, even as his reversal on resisting the disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein documents.

He continued to dismiss her assertion that his remarks were endangering her and stated he did not believe anyone was targeting her. The congresswoman remarked on the previous day that the President's social media posts had unleashed a wave of threats aimed at her.

“Greene the ‘Traitor’,” he remarked, speaking of the congresswoman. “I don’t think her life is in danger... I don’t think anybody cares about her,” the president informed the press before boarding his presidential plane on Sunday night.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a House member from the state of Georgia who was long known as a staunch Trump supporter, has lately adopted stances contrary to the president. She noted 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 Disclosure Initiative

This dispute came as Trump urged his GOP colleagues in the legislature to vote for the publication of records concerning the late disgraced financier Epstein, changing his earlier opposition to such a move.

His message on his Truth Social came after House speaker Mike Johnson previously stated that he thought a vote on releasing justice department documents in the Epstein case should help put to rest allegations “that he [Trump] has any involvement”.

He posted on his Truth Social platform on that day: “House Republicans should support unsealing the Epstein files, because we have no secrets.

“And it’s time to put behind us this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to distract from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown’,” he said.

Although Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the president has said the two men fell out before Epstein's legal troubles. Messages released last week by a House committee indicated the convicted sex offender, who took his own life in prison in 2019, believed Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was not clear what that statement meant.

Additional Developments

• GOP representative Congressman Massie had questioned the President over whether the commander-in-chief was making a “final attempt” to prevent the complete records on the late convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public by ordering a fresh investigation. The congressman and Democratic representative Representative Khanna, the two US representatives spearheading the bipartisan push to have all the documents held by the government available both expressed new worries about the steps by the White House.
• The United States conducted another strike on an alleged drug trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific on the weekend, resulting in the deaths of three individuals aboard, the Department of Defense announced on the following day. “Information verified that the vessel was engaged in illegal drug trafficking, traveling on a established drug route, and transporting narcotics,” the US Southern Command stated in a message on online platforms.
• Trump said the United States may open talks with Nicolas Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, who is under escalating pressure from the US government during a huge US military buildup in the Caribbean region. “We may be having some talks with the Venezuelan leader, and we’ll observe how that turns out. Venezuela would want to talk,” the commander-in-chief remarked on that day, in one of the initial indications of a potential way to easing the increasingly tense circumstances in the region.
• Donald Trump on the weekend dismissed concerns about right-wing pundit the commentator's latest interview with a far-right activist known for his anti-Jewish sentiments, which has created a division within the Republican party. The President supported the host, saying the ex-media personality has “expressed good things about me in the past.” He added if Carlson chooses to interview the activist, whose supporters consider themselves defending America’s white, Christian identity, then “individuals have to decide.” He did not criticize the commentator or Fuentes.
• Trump suggested on Sunday that he intends to have a discussion with NYC's mayor-elect Mamdani and said they will “reach an agreement”, in what could be a truce for the Republican president and Democratic rising star who have cast each other as political foils. Trump has for an extended period slammed the mayor-elect, incorrectly labelling him as a “socialist” and forecasting the ruin of his hometown, New York, if the democratic socialist were elected.
• A collective of 17 trans military personnel has sued the federal government for refusing them retirement benefits and benefits. The complaint, filed in federal court, describes the government’s move against them as “illegal and unjustified”.