MAGA stalwart Marjorie Taylor Greene, who defied Trump on Epstein files, to resign from Congress

Greene, in a more than 10-minute video posted online, explained her decision and said she did not want her congressional district to endure “a painful and hateful primary against me by the president we all fought for.”

Greene’s resignation came after a public disagreement with Trump in recent months, as the congresswoman criticized him for his position on files related to Jeffrey Epstein, along with foreign policy and health care.

Trump called her a “traitor” and “ridiculous” and said he would support any challenger against her when she runs for re-election next year.

She said her last day will be January 5, 2026.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Friday night.

In a brief phone call Friday evening, Trump told ABC News that Greene’s resignation is “great news for the country.” He said he has no plans to speak with Greene but wishes her well.

Greene has been one of the most prominent supporters of Trump’s “Make America Great Again” policy, and has adopted some of his unapologetic political style.

Her break with him marked a noticeable crack in his grip on conservatives, especially his most ardent base. But her decision to step down in the face of his opposition put her on the same path as many more moderate Republicans before her who disagreed with Trump.

The congresswoman, who recorded the video announcing her resignation while sitting in her living room wearing a cross necklace with a Christmas tree and peace lilies behind her, said: “My life is full of happiness, and my true convictions remain unchanged, because my self-worth is not determined by a man, but by God.”

A crack in the MAGA movement

Greene has been closely associated with the Republican president since she began her political career five years ago.

In her video on Friday, she affirmed her longstanding loyalty to Trump except on a few issues, and said it was “unjust and wrong” for him to attack her for disagreeing.

“Loyalty should be a two-way street and we should be able to vote our conscience and represent the interests of our district, because our job title is literally ‘representative,’” she said.

Greene came into office at the forefront of Trump’s MAGA movement and quickly became president A lightning rod on Capitol Hill For her opinions that are often outside the mainstream. In the video she posted on Friday, Greene said she was “always despised in Washington, D.C., and never fit in.”

While she embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory and rose with white supremacists, party leaders initially opposed Greene but Trump welcomed her. He called her a “real winner!”

However, over time she proved to be a skilled legislator, joining forces with then-GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who then became Speaker of the House. She was a reliable voice on the right, until McCarthy was ousted in 2023.

While there has been an onslaught of lawmakers from both parties heading for the exit ahead of next fall’s midterm elections, and as the House struggles through an often chaotic session, Greene’s announced retirement will reverberate throughout the ranks — and raise questions about her next steps.

Green was the first He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2020. She initially planned to run in a competitive district in suburban north Atlanta, but moved to the more conservative 14th District in the northwest corner of Georgia.

The opening in her district means Republican Gov. Brian Kemp will have to set a special election date within 10 days of Greene’s resignation. Such a special election would fill the remainder of Greene’s term through January 2027. Such elections could be held before the party’s primaries in May for the next two-year term.

Conspiracy mentality

Even before she was elected, Greene showed it A penchant for harsh rhetoricand conspiracy theories, which suggest that the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas was a coordinated attack to galvanize support for new gun restrictions. In 2018, she supported the idea that the US government committed the attacks of September 11, 2001, and believed that a “so-called” plane struck the Pentagon.

Greene argued in 2019 that Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota, and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., both Muslim women, were not “official” members of Congress because they used Qurans instead of Bibles in their swearing-in ceremonies.

It was once upon a time QAnon sympathizeran online network that believes a global cabal of Satan-worshiping cannibals, including US government leaders, is running a child sex trafficking ring. She eventually distanced herself, saying she was “attracted to some things I saw on the Internet.”

During the pandemic, she has drawn backlash and apologized for comparing wearing safety masks to the horrors of the Holocaust.

She also attracted ridicule and condemnation after a conspiracy she speculated on Facebook in 2018 suggested that California wildfires may have been caused by “lasers or blue light beams” controlled by a left-wing cabal linked to a prominent Jewish family.

When Trump was out of power between his first and second terms, Greene was often a stand-in for his views and brash style in Washington.

As then-President Joe Biden delivered his 2022 State of the Union address, Greene stood up and began chanting “build the wall,” referring to the border wall between the United States and Mexico that Trump began in his first term.

Last year, when Biden gave his final State of the Union address, Greene again drew attention when she confronted him about border security and the killing of a Georgia nursing student, Laken Riley, by an immigrant in the country illegally.

Greene, wearing a red MAGA hat and a T-shirt around Riley, handed the president a button that said “Say Her Name.” The congresswoman then shouted it at the president in the middle of his speech.

Frustration with the Republican Party

But this year, her first term with Trump in the White House, cracks slowly began to appear in her steadfast support — before it opened wide.

Greene’s dissatisfaction goes back to at least May, when she made the announcement He will not run for Senate against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, while attacking GOP donors and consultants who feared she could not win.

Greene’s anxiety intensified in July, when she announced that she would not run for governor of Georgia either.

I was also frustrated with the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill, which worked in unison with the president.

Greene said in her video that “the Legislature has been mostly sidelined” since Republicans consolidated control of Washington last January, and the bills she has introduced are “piling in the dust.”

“This is the case for most bills introduced by members of Congress,” she said. “The Speaker never brought them to vote.”

Messages sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office were not immediately responded to.

Greene said Republicans are likely to lose next year’s midterm elections, after which she “will be expected to defend the president against impeachment after he has thrown tens of millions of dollars’ worth of hate at me and tried to destroy me.”

“It’s all very silly and not serious at all,” she said. “I refuse to be a battered wife hoping that everything will go away and get better.”