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Hello and welcome to the American political live blog. I am Tom Ambrose, and I will be providing you with all the latest news lines over the next few hours.

Trump Rejects Greene's Danger Concerns

We start with the news that Donald Trump intensified his attacks against Republican lawmaker Representative Greene on Sunday, despite his shift on opposing the disclosure of the Epstein files.

He continued to dismiss her assertion that his remarks were endangering her and said he did not think anyone was focusing on her. The congresswoman said on Saturday that the President's social media posts had unleashed a wave of menaces directed at her.

“Greene the ‘Traitor’,” he remarked, referring to the lawmaker. “I don’t think her life is in danger... I don’t think anybody cares about her,” the president told the press before entering his presidential plane on Sunday evening.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a House member from the state of Georgia who was previously considered a Trump loyalist, has lately adopted stances at odds with the president. She said on Saturday she has been alerted by security companies expressing concern for her safety and that strong criticisms against her have in the past resulted in threats on her life.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Release Push

The public fallout came as the President encouraged his GOP colleagues in Congress to support the publication of files concerning the late convicted sex offender Epstein, reversing his earlier resistance to such a move.

Trump’s post on his social media platform came after House speaker Mike Johnson previously stated that he thought a decision on making public justice department files in the Epstein investigation should help dispel allegations “that he [Trump] has any involvement”.

Trump wrote on his social media account on that day: “GOP lawmakers should vote to release the Epstein files, because we have no secrets.

“And it’s time to put behind us this Democrat Hoax perpetrated by far-left activists in order to distract from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our latest win on the government funding issue,” he said.

While Trump and Epstein were photographed together decades ago, the commander-in-chief has said the two men had a disagreement before Epstein’s convictions. Emails released last week by a House committee indicated the convicted sex offender, who died by suicide in jail in recent years, believed Trump “knew about the girls,” though it was uncertain what that statement signified.

Additional Updates

• GOP representative Thomas Massie had questioned the President over whether the commander-in-chief was making a “final attempt” to prevent the complete records on the deceased convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public by initiating a fresh investigation. The congressman and Democratic congressman Representative Khanna, the two lawmakers spearheading the cross-party effort to have all the files held by the authorities available both expressed new worries about the steps by the White House.
• US forces carried out another attack on an alleged narcotics smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific on the weekend, killing three individuals on board, the Pentagon announced on Sunday. “Intelligence confirmed that the boat was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, transiting along a established drug route, and carrying narcotics,” the US Southern Command stated in a message on online platforms.
• The President indicated the United States may open talks with Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president, who is under growing scrutiny from the US government during a huge US military buildup in the Caribbean. “We may be having some discussions with the Venezuelan leader, and we’ll observe how that turns out. They would want to talk,” the commander-in-chief said on Sunday, in one of the initial indications of a potential way to defusing the increasingly tense circumstances in the region.
• Trump on Sunday dismissed worries about right-wing pundit the commentator's recent discussion with a far-right activist known for his antisemitic views, which has created a division within the GOP. The President defended the host, saying the former Fox News host has “said positive remarks about me over the years.” He added if Carlson wants to interview the activist, whose followers see themselves as working to preserve America’s white, Christian identity, then “individuals have to make up their own minds.” He did not criticize Carlson or the activist.
• The President suggested on that day that he plans to have a discussion with New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and stated they will “work something out”, in what could be a detente for the Republican president and Democratic political star who have cast each other as opponents. Trump has for an extended period criticized Mr Mamdani, falsely labelling him as a “communist” and forecasting the decline of his city, New York, if the democratic socialist were chosen.
• A group of 17 transgender US air force members has sued the Trump administration for denying them retirement benefits and entitlements. The complaint, filed in a US court, characterizes the government’s move against them as “unlawful and invalid”.