Trump cuts ties with Marjorie Taylor Greene : NPR

President Donald Trump has publicly called it quits with one of his staunchest supporters in the MAGA world, calling Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene “stupid Marjorie” and saying he will back an opponent against her in next year's midterm elections “if the right person runs.”

The ouster of Greene, who was once the embodiment of the “Make America Great Again” slogan, wore her signature red cap for President Joe Biden's 2024 State of the Union address and acted as a mediator between Trump and other Republicans on Capitol Hill, appears to be the final turning point in a dispute that has simmered for months as Greene appears to have softened her political profile. The three-term U.S. House member has increasingly been at odds with Republican leaders, attacking them during the just-ended federal government shutdown and saying they want a plan that will help people who are losing subsidies afford health insurance policies.

Accusing the Georgia Republican of being “far left,” Trump wrote that all he's seen from Greene in recent months is “COMPLAINS, COMPLAINTS, COMPLAINTS!” adding of Green's supposed annoyance at not answering her phone calls: “I can't answer Mad Man's rants every day.”

In response to X, Greene wrote on Friday that Trump “attacked me and lied about me.” She added a screenshot of a message she said she sent to the president earlier in the day about the release of Jeffrey Epstein's files, which she said “pushed him over the edge.”

Greene called it “really amazing how hard he's fighting to keep the Epstein files from being made public, and that he's actually gotten to this point,” referring to the U.S. House of Representatives vote next week on making Epstein's files public.

Writing that she supported Trump with “too much of my precious time, too much of my own money and fought harder for him even when almost every other Republican turned and denounced him,” Greene added, “I do not worship or serve Donald Trump.”

Trump's post appeared to tie the bow of finality to divisions that have widened since off-cycle elections this month, with voters in New Jersey and Virginia's gubernatorial races shifting to Democrats, largely over concerns about the cost of living.

Greene told NBC News last week that “watching foreign leaders come into the White House through a revolving door is not helping Americans,” saying Trump needs to focus on high prices at home rather than his recent emphasis on foreign affairs. Trump responded by saying that Greene had “lost her way.”

Asked about Greene's comments earlier Friday as he flew from Washington to Florida, Trump repeated that he believed “something has happened to her in the last month or two,” saying that if he had not traveled to China to meet with leader Xi Jinping, it would have had negative consequences for jobs in Georgia and elsewhere because China would have maintained restrictions on magnet exports.

Saying people had called him wanting to challenge Greene, Trump added: “She has lost a wonderful conservative reputation.”

Greene's grievances go back to at least May, when she announced she would not run for Senate against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff while attacking GOP donors and consultants who feared she couldn't win. In June, she publicly sided with Tucker Carlson after Trump called the commentator “crazy” in the rift that emerged between MAGA and national security hardliners over possible U.S. regime change efforts in Iran.

The situation only intensified in July when Greene announced that she would not run for governor. She then attacked the “good old boy” political system, arguing that it threatened Republican control of the state. Greene has gone on a charm offensive in recent weeks, giving interviews and media appearances aimed at people who are not ardent Trump supporters. Asked on comedian Tim Dillon's podcast if she wanted to run for president in 2028, Greene responded in October: “I hate politics so much” and just wanted to “solve problems” but did not give a definitive answer.

This culminated with an appearance on Bill Maher's HBO show Real Time, followed a few days later by a November 4 appearance on ABC's The View. Some observers began calling Greene reasonable as she criticized Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana for not calling Republicans back to Washington and developing a health care plan.

“I feel like I'm sitting next to a completely different Marjorie Taylor Greene,” said “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin.

“Maybe you should become a Democrat, Marjorie,” co-host Joy Behar said.

“I’m not a Democrat,” Greene responded. “I think both sides failed.”