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Greetings and salutations to the American political live blog. This is Tom Ambrose, and I will be providing you with all the most recent news lines over the next few hours.

Trump Rejects Marjorie Taylor Greene's Safety Concerns

We begin with the news that President Donald Trump intensified his attacks against GOP congresswoman Representative Greene on Sunday, despite his shift on resisting the disclosure of the Epstein files.

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

“Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene,” he said, speaking of the congresswoman. “I do not believe her life is in danger... I doubt anybody is concerned for her,” the president informed reporters before boarding his presidential plane on Sunday evening.

Greene, a US House of Representatives member from Georgia who was previously considered a staunch Trump supporter, has recently taken positions contrary to the commander-in-chief. She said on the weekend she has been alerted by private security firms warning about her security and that strong criticisms against her have in the past resulted in death threats.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Disclosure Initiative

This dispute occurred while the President encouraged his GOP colleagues in the legislature to vote for the release of records related to the deceased disgraced financier Epstein, changing his prior resistance to such a move.

Trump’s post on his social media platform came after House speaker Mike Johnson said earlier that he believed a vote on making public justice department files in the Epstein case should help put to rest allegations “that he [Trump] has any involvement”.

Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday: “GOP lawmakers should support unsealing the Epstein documents, because we have no secrets.

“Now is the moment to move on from this Democrat Hoax orchestrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our latest win on the government funding issue,” he said.

While 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 jail in recent years, thought the President “was aware of the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase meant.

Additional Updates

• Republican congressman Thomas Massie had questioned the President over whether the commander-in-chief was making a “last-ditch effort” to keep the full files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from being disclosed by initiating a new probe. Massie and Democratic congressman Representative Khanna, the two US representatives spearheading the bipartisan push to have all the documents held by the government public both expressed new worries about the actions by the White House.
• US forces carried out another attack on an suspected narcotics smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, killing three people aboard, the Pentagon announced on Sunday. “Intelligence verified that the vessel was engaged in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and transporting drugs,” the military command stated in a post on online platforms.
• The President indicated the United States may begin discussions with President Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who faces growing scrutiny from Washington amid a huge US military buildup in the Caribbean. “We could initiate some talks with Maduro, and we’ll see how that develops. Venezuela would want to talk,” the commander-in-chief said on Sunday, in one of the initial indications of a possible path to defusing the growingly strained situation in the area.
• Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed worries about conservative commentator Tucker Carlson's latest discussion with a extremist figure known for his anti-Jewish sentiments, which has created a division within the GOP. The President supported the host, saying the ex-media personality has “expressed good things about me over the years.” He said if Carlson chooses to interview the activist, whose followers see themselves as defending America’s white, Christian identity, then “individuals have to decide.” He did not condemn the commentator or Fuentes.
• The President indicated on Sunday that he intends to have a discussion with NYC's mayor-elect Mamdani and stated they will “work something out”, in what could be a truce for the Republican president and Democratic political star who have portrayed one another as opponents. Trump has for months criticized Mr Mamdani, falsely describing him as a “socialist” and forecasting the ruin of his hometown, New York, if the democratic socialist were chosen.
• A collective of seventeen trans US air force members has filed a lawsuit against the federal government for refusing them early retirement pensions and benefits. The legal filing, filed in federal court, characterizes the administration's action against them as “unlawful and invalid”.