It was unexpected: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene announced she will resign from Congress a year before her term ends, after President Trump said he would back someone else for her seat. Once a fierce, unwavering defender of Trump, Greene’s relationship with him has turned bitter.
Known for incendiary rhetoric and promoting conspiracy theories, Greene’s split with Trump intensified over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. She says she signed a discharge petition to free the records because survivors “deserve everything” and to give them a chance to be heard. She says Trump was “extremely angry,” warning her that “people will get hurt.”
Greene told Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes that Trump called her a “traitor” and a “lunatic,” and that after he publicly denounced her she received a pipe-bomb threat at her home and multiple death threats directed at her son. She says the threats used the president’s words — “Marjorie Traitor Greene” — and that she informed Trump and allies like JD Vance, receiving only a lukewarm reply and an unkind private message from Trump.
Trump’s dismissive public comment — “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene. I don’t think her life is in danger. I don’t think—Frankly, I don’t think anybody cares about her” — underscored the rift. Greene, who voted with Trump 98% of the time during their earlier alliance, says their relationship soured as she began publicly criticizing him on multiple fronts: foreign policy, support for Israel, a crypto bill she says favored donors, and what she sees as allegiance to big industries rather than “America First” voters.
In her resignation video, Greene accused Trump and the MAGA political machine of replacing true MAGA with “NeoCons, big pharma, big tech, military industrial war complex, foreign leaders and the elite donor class.” She told Stahl that an America First president should have prioritized domestic issues rather than foreign entanglements.
Three weeks before the interview Greene appeared on CNN and offered a surprising mea culpa: “I would like to say humbly I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics.” But she has not abandoned confrontation. In the 60 Minutes exchange she pushed back when Stahl accused her of contributing to toxic political culture, and rebuked Stahl’s questioning as accusatory.
Greene emphasized frustrations with Congress’ failure to pass spending bills, hurting her district’s ability to get projects funded. Before politics she ran her family’s construction company and a CrossFit gym; she highlighted affordability and health insurance as top issues, and even sided with Democrats during a shutdown fight to extend health-care subsidies.
On foreign policy and Israel, Greene has positioned herself as an outlier within the GOP. She is the only House Republican to call the Gaza war a genocide, and she voted against the Antisemitism Awareness Act, saying Congress has repeatedly denounced antisemitism and that she refused to “get on our knees and say it over and over again.” She added that many members support measures repeatedly because they accept donations from AIPAC — donations she says she does not take.
Asked whether she is MAGA, Greene demurred, calling herself “America First” and distinguishing that from Trump’s MAGA label. Her break with Trump made her one of the few Republicans willing to publicly criticize him. She told Stahl many colleagues privately mock Trump or her support for him, but after his 2024 primary win they quickly adopted MAGA outwardly — “kissing his ass,” in her words — out of fear of his wrath on platforms like Truth Social.
Greene asserted that Republicans are “terrified to step outta line and get a nasty Truth Social post on them,” and that colleagues speak differently behind closed doors than they do publicly. She said their fear was evident in how they reacted to her treatment.
At public events in her Georgia district, Greene remained popular despite dropping the MAGA hat. Stahl raised the possibility that Greene’s resignation or apparent change of heart might be a political calculation before seeking other office; Greene insisted she has “zero plans, zero desire” to run for president, the Senate, or governor, saying she is not a career politician with a future itinerary.
The interview captures a dramatic reversal: a combative congresswoman who once stood as one of Trump’s most ardent foot soldiers now portraying herself as cast aside by the movement she championed, blaming Trump for personal danger and accusing the broader GOP of cowardice in the face of his influence.
Produced by Denise Schrier Cetta. Associate producers: Elizabeth Germino, Jinsol Jung, Collette Richards. Broadcast associate: Aria Een. Edited by Sean Kelly and Thomas Xenakis.