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Hello and welcome to the American political live blog. This is Tom Ambrose, and I will be bringing you all the most recent news lines over the coming hours.

The President Rejects Marjorie Taylor Greene's Danger Concerns

We start with the development that President Donald Trump doubled down on his criticism of Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene on the weekend, even as his reversal on opposing the release of the Epstein files.

He persisted in rejecting her claim that his criticism were endangering her and said he did not believe anyone was focusing on her. Greene said on the previous day that Trump’s social media posts had triggered a wave of threats directed at her.

“Greene the ‘Traitor’,” he remarked, referring to the congresswoman. “I do not believe her life is in danger... I doubt anybody is concerned for her,” Trump informed reporters before entering his presidential plane on Sunday evening.

Greene, a House member from Georgia who was previously considered a Trump loyalist, has recently taken positions at odds with the president. She said on Saturday she has been contacted by private security firms warning about her security and that harsh attacks against her have in the past led to threats on her life.

Jeffrey Epstein Documents Release Initiative

The public fallout occurred while the President encouraged his GOP colleagues in the legislature to support the publication of files related to the deceased disgraced financier Epstein, changing his earlier resistance to such a move.

Trump’s post on his Truth Social came after Speaker Johnson said earlier that he thought a decision on releasing DOJ documents in the Epstein investigation should help put to rest claims “that he [Trump] has any involvement”.

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

“Now is the moment to put behind us this political stunt orchestrated by Radical Left Lunatics in order to distract from the Great Success of the Republican Party, including our recent Victory on the government funding issue,” he added.

While Trump and Epstein were seen together decades ago, the president has claimed the two men had a disagreement before Epstein's legal troubles. Emails disclosed last week by a congressional panel showed the disgraced financier, who took his own life in prison in 2019, believed the President “knew about the girls,” though it was uncertain what that statement meant.

Other Developments

• GOP representative Congressman Massie had challenged Trump over whether the US president was making a “final attempt” to keep the full files on the deceased convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein from becoming public by ordering a fresh investigation. Massie and Democratic representative Representative Khanna, the two lawmakers spearheading the cross-party effort to make all the files held by the government available both expressed new worries about the steps by the administration.
• US forces carried out a further strike on an alleged narcotics smuggling boat in the Pacific region on the weekend, resulting in the deaths of three people on board, the Pentagon announced on Sunday. “Intelligence confirmed that the vessel was involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, traveling on a known narco-trafficking route, and transporting narcotics,” the US Southern Command announced in a message on social media.
• Trump said the US may begin discussions with Nicolas Maduro, the leader of Venezuela, who is under growing scrutiny from the US government during a significant US military buildup in the Caribbean region. “We may be having some talks with Maduro, and we’ll see how that turns out. They would like to talk,” the commander-in-chief remarked on that day, in one of the initial indications of a potential way to easing the increasingly tense circumstances in the region.
• Trump on the weekend brushed aside concerns about right-wing pundit Tucker Carlson's recent discussion with a extremist figure recognized for his antisemitic views, which has created a schism within the Republican party. Trump supported the host, noting the former Fox News host has “said good things about me over the years.” He added if he wants to interview the activist, whose supporters see themselves as defending the nation's white, Christian identity, then “people have to decide.” He did not criticize the commentator or Fuentes.
• The President indicated on that day that he intends to meet with NYC's incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani and said they will “work something out”, in what could be a detente for the GOP leader and Democratic political star who have cast each other as political foils. Trump has for months slammed Mr Mamdani, incorrectly labelling him as a “communist” and predicting the decline of his hometown, NYC, if the democratic socialist were elected.
• A collective of 17 trans US air force members has filed a lawsuit against the federal government for denying them retirement benefits and entitlements. The complaint, submitted in federal court, characterizes the government’s move against them as “unlawful and invalid”.