トランプ、絶縁状態のグリーン議員に未練「政界復帰を望む」

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said Saturday he would like to see Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene resume her political career at some point, despite their recent falling out.

Trump’s comments came the day after Greene, one of the best-known faces in the Republican arena, made the stunning announcement that she will resign in January.

In a brief phone interview with NBC News, the president said, “It’s not going to be easy for her” to revive her career in politics, though he added, “I’d love to see that.”

In the meantime, Trump said, “she’s got to take a little rest.”

Long a stalwart ally of the president, Greene has become more vocal in recent weeks about her differences with some of his policies and priorities. She has faulted Trump for devoting what she sees as excessive attention to foreign leaders as opposed to the pocketbook concerns of everyday Americans.

She was also an early advocate for the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files and said that Trump had been blocking their disclosure. After calling the effort to release the files a “hoax,” Trump changed course last Sunday and said he supported making them public. Congress quickly voted to compel the Justice Departemnt to do just that, and Trump signed the bill.

Trump has lashed out at Greene, calling her a “traitor.” He withdrew his support for her re-election.

Early Saturday morning, before his interview with NBC News, Trump posted on his social media site that Greene chose to quit rather than face a Republican primary challenger in the midterm elections next year. He reiterated that she was “a traitor,” while also thanking her for her “service to our country.”

A person close to Greene said in an interview that the congresswoman remained convinced she would win re-election had she decided to run. The issue was not so much the competition as the threats and scorn that Greene and her children have endured, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Greene has two daughters and a son, all in their 20s.

“She very much looks forward to one day go out in public and not be harassed in restaurants and airports and be on the face of every TV channel,” the person added. “It’s safe to say she’ll probably take a step back and be a private, normal person again.”

As for Trump’s denunciations, the person said, “She was one of his biggest allies in Congress and she never really turned her back on him. She stood up for him when no one else in the House would. It was disappointing to her to see that, but she’s not someone who, when she sees things she disagrees with, would turn a blind eye to that.”

Asked if he believed he could overcome his differences with Greene, Trump said in the interview, “I can patch up differences with anyone.”

Over the years, Trump has feuded with billionaire Elon Musk, former White House adviser Steve Bannon and others, only to reconcile and bring them back into his fold. During the 2016 presidential race, Trump dubbed then-Sen. Marco Rubio “Little Marco.” Rubio is now the president’s secretary of state.

The rift has been disconcerting to Greene’s constituents in northwest Georgia, who overwhelmingly voted for both Trump and the congresswoman in the 2024 elections. But in interviews with NBC News, Greene’s voters gave no sign that they were prepared to abandon her. Indeed, some applauded her for standing up to the president in defense of her beliefs.

“She has a lot of courage and tells it like it is,” Debbie Dyer, 60, who works at a carpet company, said earlier this week at a mall in Dalton, Georgia.

Trump had gotten no advance warning that Greene would leave Congress, an official familiar with the matter told NBC News. Nor did she give House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., a heads up, according to another person with direct knowledge of the matter.

“Everyone in the world found out at the same time,” a person close to Greene told NBC News, referring to the video Greene released Friday night announcing her departure.

Greene’s resignation figures to make Johnson’s job more difficult, given the GOP’s slim majority in the House.

She and Johnson never had a strong relationship; she even tried to oust him from the speakership last year. Still, lawmakers typically provide their own party leaders some type of advance notice about career plans that could have a pronounced influence on the course of legislation.

A question that has hovered over Greene’s row with the president was her endgame. Was she repositioning herself politically to run for statewide office in Georgia, or perhaps for president in 2028? Why else would she make an appearance earlier in the month on ABC’s “The View” — hardly a platform for the MAGA movement.

The person close to her dismissed any such speculation: “She’s made it very clear that she’s leaving politics.”

Already, potential successors are eyeing her soon-to-be vacant seat. Colton Moore, a Republican state senator, released a statement Saturday saying, “The RINOs [Republicans in name only] and radical left have had their run. It’s time for real conservative patriots to take over.”