Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is staring down a full frontal onslaught from President Trump, now says she regrets her role in worsening the political discourse in the United States. Ms. Greene also says she is growing increasingly concerned for her own personal safety after Mr. Trump began calling her a “traitor” after she offered some mild criticisms not of the president himself, but of the Republican Party. 

Ms. Greene’s criticisms of Republicans became more vocal over the summer, after she advocated for not bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities and called on the president to stop offering any kind of economic or military support for Israel, among other things. During the 43-day government shutdown — which gave Speaker Mike Johnson an excuse to keep the House out of session for nearly two months — Ms. Greene went on a press tour which included her making the case that the GOP was not doing nearly enough to make life more affordable. 

On Friday night, after he was asked by a reporter about Ms. Greene on his way to Florida, the president unloaded on the Georgia congresswoman. He said that he was withdrawing his endorsement of her ahead of the 2026 election, and added that he would support a challenger in the Republican primary. 

“All I see ‘Wacky’ Marjorie do is COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” Mr. Trump wrote. In a number of follow-up posts, Mr. Trump called Ms. Greene a “traitor,” a “lightweight,” and a “RINO.”

On Sunday morning, Ms. Greene did not hit back at the president himself with her typical fire-breathing bravado. Instead, she argued for peace — and expressed regret at her own role in ratcheting up the rhetorical temperature in American politics. 

“I would like to say humbly — I’m sorry for taking part in the toxic politics. It’s very bad for our country,” she told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday morning. 

“It’s been something I’ve thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated,” the congresswoman said. “I’m only responsible for myself and my own words and actions, and I am committed — and I’ve been working on this a lot lately — to put down the knives and politics.”

“I really just want to see people be kind to one another, and we need to figure out a new path forward that is focused on the American people because, as Americans, no matter what side of the aisle we’re on, we have far more in common than we have differences,” Ms. Greene added. “We need to be able to respect each other with our disagreements.”

She noted that she was one of the president’s earliest and most ardent supporters when Mr. Trump announced he would be running in the 2024 election all the way back in 2022. Ms. Greene says that the president calling her a “traitor” now is not just hurtful — it puts her life at risk.

“That is so extremely wrong, and those are the types of words used that can radicalize people against me and put my life in danger,” Ms. Greene said. 

When CNN anchor Dana Bash asked Ms. Greene about her own rhetoric in the past — including calling for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to be tried for treason, which carries the penalty of death — the congresswoman seemed contrite. 

“Of course, I never want to cause any harm or anything bad for anyone,” Ms. Greene said, noting that she first distanced herself from those comments in 2021. “I think America needs to come together and end all the toxic, dangerous rhetoric and divide, and I’m leading the way with my own example, and I hope that President Trump can do the same. 

Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post over the weekend that Ms. Greene is only criticizing him now because he did not want to endorse her for either a Senate or a gubernatorial run in Georgia for 2026. He said she had “told many people that she is upset that I don’t return her phone calls anymore.”

Ms. Greene says that those accusations are untrue. Instead, she believes he is coming after her because she supports the legislation in the House this week which could lead to a forced disclosure of the Epstein files by the Department of Justice. Ms. Greene says she has already received a letter from dozens of Epstein survivors who thanked her for sticking by them despite the president’s pressure campaign. 

“Unfortunately, it has all come down to the Epstein files, and that is shocking,” she said. “I believe the country deserves transparency in these files.”

“I’m standing with the women, and I will continue to do my small part to get the files released,” Ms. Greene declared.