Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has announced she will resign from Congress effective January 5, 2026, after a highly public fallout with former President Donald Trump over policy disagreements, including the release of Jeffrey Epstein files and foreign policy. Trump told ABC News that her departure was “great news for the country” and later derided her as “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown” on Truth Social. The resignation came just as Trump drew notice for an unexpectedly cordial Oval Office meeting with New York City Mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani.
On November 21, 2025, President Donald Trump met with New York City Mayor‑elect Zohran Mamdani in the Oval Office, a cordial encounter that contrasted sharply with their past clashes.
According to Politico and NPR, Trump had previously branded Mamdani a “100% Communist lunatic” and threatened to cut federal funding to New York City if the democratic socialist won office. During Friday’s meeting, however, Trump praised Mamdani as “rational” and suggested he could end up helping, rather than hindering, the incoming mayor. Time magazine reports that the two men found common ground on issues including public safety and housing affordability, with Trump saying he expected to be “helping him, not hurting him.” Mamdani described the conversation as productive and focused on shared concerns about New Yorkers’ cost of living and safety, while still emphasizing their ideological differences.
Within hours of the meeting, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R‑Ga.) announced that she would leave Congress. In an approximately 11‑minute video and a four‑page statement posted to X on November 21, Greene said her resignation would take effect January 5, 2026. She cited deep disappointment with Congress and Republican leadership, as well as a breakdown in her relationship with Trump, according to NPR and the Associated Press.
Greene, once one of Trump’s most vocal allies, said her loyalty had not been reciprocated. She complained of “never‑ending personal attacks, death threats, lawfare, ridiculous slander and lies” and argued that “loyalty should be a two‑way street,” as reported by The Guardian and AP. She also said she did not want her northwest Georgia district to endure what she called a “hurtful and hateful” primary backed by Trump, and ruled out bids for statewide office. Multiple outlets, including AP and Mediaite, note that Trump had recently withdrawn his endorsement of Greene and signaled he would support a primary challenger.
The split between Trump and Greene followed a series of policy disputes. NPR and other outlets report that Greene pressed aggressively for the release of federal files related to Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and criticized Trump’s earlier resistance to making those documents public. She also broke with Trump over aspects of his foreign policy, including U.S. military strikes on Iran and his support for Israel’s war in Gaza, as well as over portions of his economic agenda. In her resignation message, Greene cast some of these differences as evidence that Trump and GOP leaders were straying from what she views as genuine “America First” priorities.
Trump responded warmly to Greene’s exit from Congress. ABC News reporter Rachel Scott, in a summary cited by outlets including Breitbart, Newsweek, Mediaite and The Daily Wire, quoted Trump as saying her resignation was “great news for the country. It’s great.” He added that Greene had not given him advance notice but said, “I think she should be happy,” and indicated he had no plans to speak with her, though he wished her well. In a subsequent Truth Social post reported by The Daily Wire, Trump referred to her as “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown,” blamed her “plummeting poll numbers,” and criticized her close association with Rep. Thomas Massie (R‑Ky.).
Greene and Massie recently worked together on legislation to force the public release of Epstein‑related files. The House passed the measure this week by an overwhelming bipartisan margin after Trump reversed his initial opposition and urged lawmakers to back the bill, according to coverage cited by NPR and other outlets. The episode underscored emerging fissures within the broader MAGA coalition over transparency, foreign policy and civil liberties.
Greene’s resignation adds to an unusually high number of lawmakers heading for the exits, though precise counts vary by outlet and continue to evolve. The Guardian notes that Georgia Democrat Shawn Harris, a candidate in Greene’s heavily Republican district, quickly moved to capitalize on the opening, while Republican figures in the state praised Greene’s combative tenure. Strategists quoted in Politico and other outlets say her departure, together with Trump’s overture to Mamdani, has raised fresh questions about the direction and cohesion of the MAGA movement heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
From the White House, officials have defended Trump’s recent moves as consistent with his “America First” agenda, portraying the Mamdani meeting as evidence of his willingness to work across ideological lines when it serves his interests and, they argue, the country’s. Critics inside and outside the Republican Party, however, see the twin developments — Greene’s fall from favor and Mamdani’s sudden elevation in Trump’s rhetoric — as further proof of how quickly fortunes can shift in a movement defined by the former president’s personal calculations.
