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Greetings and salutations to the US politics live blog. I am Tom Ambrose, and I will be bringing you all the latest developments over the next few hours.

The President Rejects Marjorie Taylor Greene's Danger Concerns

We start with the news that Donald Trump intensified his criticism of Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene on the weekend, despite his shift on resisting the disclosure of the Jeffrey Epstein documents.

He persisted in rejecting her claim that his criticism were endangering her and stated he did not think anyone was focusing on her. The congresswoman remarked on Saturday that Trump’s online criticism had triggered a surge of threats directed at her.

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

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a US House of Representatives member from Georgia who was long known as a Trump loyalist, has lately taken positions contrary to the president. She said on Saturday she has been alerted by private security firms expressing concern for her safety and that strong criticisms against her have previously led to death threats.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Release Push

The public fallout came as the President urged his fellow Republicans in the legislature to vote for the release of records related to the late disgraced financier Epstein, reversing his prior resistance to such a action.

His message on his Truth Social followed Speaker Johnson previously stated that he thought a vote on making public DOJ files in the Epstein case should help put to rest allegations “that he [Trump] has any involvement”.

He posted on his social media account on that day: “GOP lawmakers should vote to release the Epstein documents, because we have nothing to hide.

“Now is the moment to move on from this political stunt perpetrated by far-left activists in order to deflect from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our latest win on the government funding issue,” he added.

Although Trump and Epstein were photographed together years back, the president has claimed the two men fell out before Epstein's legal troubles. Emails released last week by a congressional panel indicated the disgraced financier, who died by suicide in prison in recent years, believed the President “knew about the girls,” though it was not clear what that phrase meant.

Other Developments

• GOP representative Thomas Massie had questioned the President over whether the commander-in-chief was making a “last-ditch effort” to keep the complete records on the deceased convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein from being disclosed by ordering a new probe. Massie and Democratic congressman Representative Khanna, the two lawmakers leading the cross-party effort to make all the files in the possession of the authorities available both raised fresh concerns about the steps by the administration.
• The United States conducted another attack on an alleged narcotics smuggling boat in the eastern Pacific on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of three people on board, the Pentagon announced on the following day. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illegal drug trafficking, transiting along a established drug route, and carrying drugs,” the military command announced in a message on social media.
• Trump indicated the US may begin discussions with President Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, who is under escalating pressure from Washington during a significant US military buildup in the Caribbean region. “We may be having some discussions with the Venezuelan leader, and we’ll observe how that turns out. They would like to talk,” the commander-in-chief said on that day, in one of the first signs of a potential way to defusing the growingly strained situation in the area.
• Trump on Sunday brushed aside concerns about conservative commentator Tucker Carlson's latest discussion with a far-right activist known for his antisemitic views, which has created a division within the GOP. The President supported Carlson, saying the former Fox News host has “said positive remarks about me in the past.” He said if Carlson chooses to speak with the activist, whose followers see themselves as defending the nation's white, Christian identity, then “people have to decide.” He did not condemn the commentator or Fuentes.
• The President indicated on Sunday that he intends to meet with New York City’s incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani and stated they will “reach an agreement”, in what could be a truce for the Republican president and Democratic rising star who have portrayed one another as opponents. Trump has for months criticized Mr Mamdani, falsely labelling him as a “socialist” and predicting the decline of his city, New York, if the democratic socialist were elected.
• A group of 17 trans US air force members has filed a lawsuit against the federal government for refusing them early retirement pensions and benefits. The complaint, submitted in federal court, characterizes the administration's action against them as “unlawful and invalid”.