At a Capitol Hill press conference on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, Marjorie Taylor Greene forcefully pushed back on President Trump’s branding of her “traitor” on social media. It’s just the latest salvo in what is widely seen as a political divorce between the Georgia Representative and the president, with whom she had once been a loyal ally.
These remarks came as Greene stood by a discharge petition she signed to force a vote on releasing Jeffrey Epstein Justice Department records. Flanked by Epstein survivors, Representatives Ro Khanna, and Thomas Massie, Greene said, “I won my first election without his endorsement, beating eight men in a primary, and I’ve never owed him anything. But I fought for him — for the policies and for America first — and he called me a traitor for standing with these women and refusing to take my name off the discharge petition.”
Greene went on to say, “Let me tell you what a traitor is. A traitor is an American that serves foreign countries and themselves. A patriot is an American that serves the United States of America and Americans like the women standing behind me now.”
The Trump-Greene rift
— CALL TO ACTIVISM (@CalltoActivism) November 18, 2025
HOLY COW: Marjorie Taylor Greene suggests Donald Trump is the traitor:
"I was called a traitor by a man that I fought for 6 years.
I gave him my loyalty for free…
Let me tell you what a traitor is.
It's an American who serves
foreign countries and THEMSELVES."
BOOOM!pic.twitter.com/xOQSHumXZD
Just days earlier, Trump took to Truth Social to announce he was rescinding his endorsement of her, calling her “a ranting lunatic” and encouraging a primary challenger in her Georgia district. He later escalated his rhetoric, repeatedly calling her “Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Greene.”
Greene, in turn, accused Trump of turning on her after she pushed for transparency — specifically, calling for the release of the full Epstein files. She said she’d sent him text messages urging him to back the release, and argued that his sudden distancing from her was tied to her support for survivors.
A president changes course
BREAKING:
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) November 16, 2025
Dana Bash: “What do you think is the reason for this [Trump attacking you]?”
Marjorie Taylor Greene: “It has all come down to the Epstein Files, and that is Shocking.” pic.twitter.com/BNPbx3moh4
Amid the Greene and Trump feud and mounting pressure, the president abruptly changed course. After at first opposing the release, Trump publicly called on House Republicans late Sunday, November 16, to vote in favor of the bill, stating, “House Republicans should vote to release the Epstein files… because we have nothing to hide…”
Observers viewed this pivot—coming just two days before the scheduled vote—as the President bowing to the inevitable pressure created by the successful petition, ultimately forcing him to join the position Greene had fought for.
In her CNN interview with Dana Bash, Greene described Trump’s “traitor” labeling as “the most hurtful thing he said” and warned that his language “can radicalize people against me and put my life in danger.”
She added that she has been contacted by private security firms, “with warnings for my safety,” stating that threats against her have increased after the Epstein-related falling out.
