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Hello and welcome to the American political ongoing coverage. This is Tom Ambrose, and I will be bringing you all the most recent news lines over the coming hours.

The President Dismisses Marjorie Taylor Greene's Danger Claims

We start with the development that President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene on Sunday, despite his shift on opposing the release of the Epstein files.

He continued to dismiss her claim that his remarks were putting at risk her and stated he did not think anyone was focusing on her. The congresswoman said on Saturday that Trump’s online criticism had unleashed a wave of threats directed at her.

“Greene the ‘Traitor’,” he said, referring to the lawmaker. “I don’t think her life is in danger... I doubt anybody is concerned for her,” the president informed reporters before entering Air Force One on Sunday night.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a House 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 the weekend she has been alerted by private security firms expressing concern for her security and that strong criticisms against her have in the past resulted in death threats.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Release Push

This dispute came as the President urged his GOP colleagues in the legislature to vote for the publication of records related to the late disgraced financier Epstein, reversing his prior resistance to such a move.

Trump’s post on his Truth Social followed House speaker Mike Johnson previously stated that he thought a decision on making public justice department files in the Epstein investigation should help put to rest claims “that he [Trump] has something to do with it”.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday: “House Republicans should support unsealing the Epstein files, because we have no secrets.

“And it’s time to move on from this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by far-left activists in order to distract from the significant achievements of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown’,” he added.

While the President and Epstein were photographed together years back, the president has claimed the two men had a disagreement before Epstein’s convictions. Messages disclosed last week by a House committee indicated the convicted sex offender, who took his own life in jail in recent years, thought Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was uncertain what that phrase meant.

Additional Updates

• Republican congressman Congressman Massie had questioned Trump over whether the commander-in-chief was making a “last-ditch effort” to keep the complete records on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public by initiating a fresh investigation. The congressman and Democratic representative Representative Khanna, the two lawmakers leading the bipartisan push to have all the documents in the possession of the authorities available both raised fresh concerns about the actions by the administration.
• US forces conducted a further strike on an suspected drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of three people on board, the Pentagon announced on Sunday. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, traveling on a known narco-trafficking route, and transporting drugs,” the US Southern Command announced in a post on online platforms.
• The President said the US may begin discussions with President Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who is under growing scrutiny from the US government amid a significant military deployment in the Caribbean. “We may be having some talks with the Venezuelan leader, and we’ll observe how that turns out. Venezuela would want to talk,” the US president said on Sunday, in one of the first signs of a potential way to easing the growingly strained situation in the region.
• Trump on the weekend brushed aside worries about right-wing pundit the commentator's latest interview with a far-right activist recognized for his antisemitic views, which has caused a schism within the Republican party. Trump defended Carlson, saying the former Fox News host has “said positive remarks about me in the past.” He added if he chooses to interview Nick Fuentes, whose supporters see themselves as defending the nation's white, Christian identity, then “people have to decide.” He did not condemn the commentator or the activist.
• The President indicated on that day that he plans to meet with NYC's mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and stated they will “work something out”, in what could be a detente for the Republican president and Democratic rising star who have portrayed one another as political foils. He has for months criticized the mayor-elect, falsely describing him as a “socialist” and predicting the decline of his hometown, NYC, if the democratic socialist were elected.
• A collective of seventeen trans military personnel has filed a lawsuit against the federal government for denying them retirement benefits and benefits. The complaint, submitted in a US court, describes the administration's action against them as “unlawful and invalid”.