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Hello and welcome to the US politics ongoing coverage. This is Tom Ambrose, and I will be providing you with all the most recent news lines over the next few hours.

Trump Rejects Greene's Safety Concerns

We start with the news that Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of GOP congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene on the weekend, despite his reversal on resisting the release of the Jeffrey Epstein documents.

He persisted in rejecting her assertion that his remarks were endangering her and said he did not believe anyone was targeting her. Greene said on Saturday that Trump’s online criticism had unleashed a wave of threats aimed at her.

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

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a House representative from the state of Georgia who was previously considered a staunch Trump supporter, has lately taken positions contrary to the president. She noted on the weekend she has been contacted by security companies warning about her security and that harsh attacks against her have previously resulted in death threats.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Release Initiative

This dispute came as the President urged his fellow Republicans in the legislature to vote for the release of records related to the deceased convicted sex offender Epstein, reversing his earlier resistance to such a action.

Trump’s post on his Truth Social came after House speaker Mike Johnson said earlier that he thought a vote on releasing justice department documents in the Epstein case should help put to rest claims “that he [Trump] has any involvement”.

He posted on his Truth Social platform on that day: “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein documents, because we have no secrets.

“And it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax orchestrated by far-left activists in order to deflect from the significant achievements of the GOP, including our latest win on the Democrat ‘Shutdown’,” he said.

Although the President and Epstein were photographed together years back, the commander-in-chief has claimed the two men fell out before Epstein's legal troubles. Messages disclosed recently by a House committee indicated the convicted sex offender, who took his own life in prison in 2019, thought Trump “was aware of the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase signified.

Other Updates

• Republican congressman Thomas Massie had challenged Trump over whether the US president was making a “last-ditch effort” to prevent the complete records on the deceased convicted criminal Epstein from becoming public by ordering a fresh investigation. The congressman and Democratic representative Representative Khanna, the two lawmakers spearheading the cross-party effort to make all the files held by the government public both raised fresh concerns about the actions by the White House.
• US forces carried out a further strike on an alleged narcotics smuggling vessel in the Pacific region on the weekend, resulting in the deaths of three individuals on board, the Pentagon said on the following day. “Information confirmed that the boat was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” the military command stated in a message on social media.
• Trump indicated the US may open talks with Nicolas Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, who faces escalating pressure from Washington amid a significant US military buildup in the Caribbean. “We may be having some talks with the Venezuelan leader, and we’ll observe how that develops. They would want to talk,” the commander-in-chief remarked on Sunday, in one of the initial indications of a possible path to easing the growingly strained situation in the region.
• Donald Trump on the weekend brushed aside worries about conservative commentator Tucker Carlson's recent interview with a extremist figure recognized for his anti-Jewish sentiments, which has created a schism within the Republican party. Trump defended the host, saying the ex-media personality has “expressed good things about me over the years.” He added if he wants to interview Nick Fuentes, whose supporters see themselves as working to preserve America’s white, Christian identity, then “individuals have to make up their own minds.” He did not condemn Carlson or Fuentes.
• The President suggested on Sunday that he intends to have a discussion with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and said they will “reach an agreement”, in what could be a detente for the GOP leader and Democratic rising star who have portrayed one another as political foils. Trump has for months slammed the mayor-elect, incorrectly labelling him as a “communist” and predicting the ruin of his hometown, New York, if the democratic socialist were chosen.
• A collective of seventeen trans US air force members has sued the Trump administration for refusing them early retirement pensions and entitlements. The complaint, filed in a US court, characterizes the administration's action against them as “illegal and unjustified”.