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Hello and welcome 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 Dismisses Marjorie Taylor Greene's Safety Claims

We begin with the development that President Donald Trump doubled down on his attacks against Republican lawmaker Representative Greene on Sunday, even as his reversal on resisting the disclosure of the Epstein files.

He continued to dismiss her assertion that his criticism 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 surge of menaces directed at her.

“Greene the ‘Traitor’,” he said, speaking of the congresswoman. “I don’t think her life is in danger... I don’t think anybody is concerned for her,” Trump told reporters before entering his presidential plane on Sunday evening.

Greene, a House member from the state of Georgia who was long known as a staunch Trump supporter, has recently adopted stances contrary to the president. She noted on the weekend she has been alerted by security companies expressing concern for her safety and that strong criticisms against her have previously resulted in death threats.

Epstein Files Release Push

This dispute occurred while Trump encouraged his GOP colleagues in Congress to vote for the publication of files related to the deceased disgraced financier Epstein, changing his earlier resistance to such a move.

His message on his Truth Social came after Speaker Johnson said earlier that he thought a decision on releasing DOJ files in the Epstein case should help put to rest claims “that he [Trump] has any involvement”.

He posted on his social media account on that day: “House Republicans should support unsealing the Epstein documents, because we have nothing to hide.

“And it’s time to put behind us this political stunt perpetrated by far-left activists in order to deflect from the significant achievements of the GOP, including our recent Victory on the Democrat ‘Shutdown’,” he said.

Although Trump and Epstein were seen together decades ago, the commander-in-chief has said the two men had a disagreement before Epstein’s convictions. Messages disclosed recently by a House committee showed the convicted sex offender, who died by suicide in prison in 2019, believed Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was uncertain what that statement signified.

Additional Updates

• GOP representative Thomas Massie had challenged Trump over whether the US president was making a “last-ditch effort” to keep the full files on the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public by ordering a new probe. The congressman and Democratic congressman Representative Khanna, the two lawmakers spearheading the cross-party effort to have all the files in the possession of the authorities available both expressed new worries about the steps by the White House.
• US forces carried out another strike on an suspected drug trafficking vessel in the eastern Pacific on the weekend, resulting in the deaths of three individuals aboard, the Pentagon said on the following day. “Intelligence verified that the boat was engaged in illegal drug trafficking, transiting along a established drug route, and carrying narcotics,” the US Southern Command stated in a message on social media.
• Trump indicated the US may open talks with President Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, who is under escalating pressure from the US government during a significant military deployment in the Caribbean. “We could initiate some discussions with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. Venezuela would like to talk,” the US president remarked on that day, in one of the first signs of a possible path to easing the increasingly tense circumstances in the area.
• Trump on the weekend dismissed worries about right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson's latest interview with a far-right activist recognized for his anti-Jewish sentiments, which has created a division within the GOP. The President supported the host, saying the former Fox News host has “expressed good things about me over the years.” He said if Carlson wants to speak with Nick Fuentes, whose followers consider themselves working to preserve America’s cultural heritage, then “people have to decide.” He did not condemn the commentator or Fuentes.
• Trump indicated on that day that he plans to have a discussion with New York City’s incoming mayor Mamdani and stated they will “work something out”, in what could be a truce for the GOP leader and Democratic rising star who have cast each other as political foils. Trump has for months criticized Mr Mamdani, falsely describing him as a “socialist” and predicting the decline of his hometown, New York, if the progressive were elected.
• A collective of seventeen trans US air force members has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for denying them early retirement pensions and entitlements. The legal filing, filed in federal court, describes the administration's action against them as “illegal and unjustified”.