Marjorie Taylor Greene’s split with Donald Trump didn’t begin with a policy memo or a quiet disagreement. It became personal quickly, focusing on one of the most controversial stories in American politics: the Epstein files.
In a recent profile from The New York Times, the outgoing Georgia Republican, once one of Trump’s strongest supporters, explained how her effort to push for the release of Jeffrey Epstein-related records drove a wedge between them. She claimed Trump issued a stark warning when she refused to withdraw.
Greene said the conflict intensified after she met with Epstein survivors during a closed-door hearing in September. Following that meeting, she threatened to name some of the men the survivors accused of abusing them. This move would have caused significant repercussions in Washington.
According to Greene, Trump called her angry. She mentioned that she put the call on speakerphone, and he was so loud that people in the suite could hear him, a staff member told the Times.
When Greene asked why Trump was so intent on stopping her, she claimed his answer was straightforward and shocking: “My friends will get hurt.”
Greene told the Times that she tried a different approach by urging Trump to invite some of Epstein’s victims to the Oval Office. She said Trump declined, telling her the victims had done nothing to “merit the honor.” That was their final conversation, Greene said.
Despite this, she moved forward, supporting a discharge petition to force the release of the files, even as Republican leaders resisted and the White House pushed back.
MAGA fracturing into “America First” and Trumpers.
Despite a stalwart Trump ally, Majorie Taylor Green @mtgreenee resigns from Congress, as she believes the complete Epstein files must be released, while Trump calls her a “traitor” for her position.
Green stands firm: “…my… pic.twitter.com/rZeh2upnPe
— Charlie Stone (@charliestone) November 22, 2025
At that time, Greene publicly described the Epstein saga as a symbol of how Washington operates.
She explained the handling of Epstein and the apparent effort to protect powerful individuals as “everything wrong with Washington.” She added, “Rich, powerful elites doing horrible things and getting away with it. And the women are the victims.”
Under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, the Justice Department was supposed to meet a December 19 deadline for a full release. It missed that deadline, and the rollout has become a slow trickle of documents, redactions, and promises of more to come.
On December 24, the DOJ announced it had received “over a million more documents potentially related” to the Epstein case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the FBI. The department indicated that lawyers are reviewing them and cautioned that the process might take “a few more weeks” due to the volume and necessary redactions to protect victims.
Greene’s claim indicates that Trump’s resistance was not just procedural but connected to the people around him.
Greene’s relationship with Trump publicly fell apart this year over the release of the Epstein files, but the president says it’s about his refusal to support her Senate ambitions. Whatever the case, this split seems permanent and she can count herself as one of many to break with Trump in his second term.
