ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump鈥檚 chaotic political universe has at least one consistent law that rises above any other: The president has no permanent friends and no permanent enemies.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia lawmaker who announced plans to in January, is the latest figure to test that Trumpian rule. Throughout his political career, the president has sparred with Republicans who, recognizing his grip on the party, eventually came into or returned to the fold, often in senior administration positions.
And already on Saturday, Trump referred to Greene as 鈥渁 nice person,鈥� hours after calling her a 鈥渢raitor.”
Yet Greene, who of the 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� movement, supported Trump’s false claims that his 2020 election defeat was fraudulent and shares his pugilistic style. So she offers a notable contrast to the typical Trump roller coaster faced by other Republicans. Those mostly mainstream conservatives begrudgingly endured the president before finally citing some breaking point or tagged Trump as a threat to democracy only to join his ranks as he remade the GOP in his own image.
In the end, Greene and Trump fell out not over ideological differences or fundamental fissures over his character but rather disagreements over the Jeffrey Epstein files and health care. With her planned departure, Greene becomes the most prominent MAGA figure to break with Trump, and what that means for both of them is an open question.
鈥淚 have fought harder than almost any other elected Republican to elect Donald Trump and Republicans to power,鈥� Greene said in her Friday video announcing her plans.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all sort of out of left field,鈥� said Kevin Bishop, a former longtime aide to Sen. Lindsey Graham, a stark example of a Trump critic-turned-ally. What鈥檚 clear, Bishop said, is that Trump, even with lagging approval ratings overall, retains 鈥済reat sway over the activists and, frankly, all corners of the Republican Party.鈥�
A 鈥榯ransactional鈥� president has long subdued internal GOP critics
Trump was not always the undisputed center of Republican power and identity. Even as he took control of a crowded GOP presidential field in 2016, his rivals pummeled him.
Graham, the South Carolina senator, called him a 鈥渒ook鈥� and a 鈥渞ace-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot.鈥� Within a few years, he was among Trump鈥檚 biggest fans in the Senate, calling him 鈥渕y president.鈥�
Marco Rubio, then a Florida senator and now Trump鈥檚 secretary of state, called him a 鈥渃on artist鈥� and 鈥渢he most vulgar person to ever aspire to the presidency.鈥� He and Trump exchanged veiled insults about each other鈥檚 male anatomy.
During that same campaign, a young author and future Vice President JD Vance wrote a New York Times op-ed titled: 鈥淢r. Trump Is Unfit For Our Nation鈥檚 Highest Office.鈥� Vance鈥檚 former roommate disclosed a text message in which Vance compared Trump to Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany鈥檚 authoritarian author of the Holocaust. By 2021, Vance was a first-time Senate candidate from Ohio who sang Trump鈥檚 praises on immigration, trade and other matters.
For Republicans who did not make that about-face, their political careers nearly always faced dead ends. Those recognizing the cost of their decisions course corrected.
Sen. Bill Cassidy was among the few Republicans who voted to convict Trump after he left office in 2021. Yet eying reelection in 2026, the Louisiana physician provided Trump the deciding committee vote to confirm the controversial Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.
Greene noted the trends.
鈥淢ost of the establishment Republicans who secretly hate him and who stabbed him in the back and never defended him against anything have all been welcomed in right after the election,鈥� she said.
Personalities, golf and his own definition of loyalty explain Trump鈥檚 approach
Bishop said those flips aren鈥檛 simply about politicians being politicians but about Trump bringing the vibes of real estate and marketing to politics.
鈥淗e views the presidency as slightly more transactional than maybe the way people in politics view the world,鈥� Bishop said. 鈥淎 businessman says, 鈥榃ell, we fought over this deal. But in a couple of years maybe we can work together and put together another deal.鈥欌��
Bishop, who worked in Graham鈥檚 Senate office throughout Trump鈥檚 first presidency, said Trump 鈥渃ame out of the hospitality industry鈥� and, despite his harshest policies and rhetoric, is less inclined to judge political opponents and allies in ideological or philosophical terms.
It’s a trait Trump put on display in the Oval Office on Friday in a with New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist the president has previously mislabeled as a communist.
Mamdani broke through, perhaps, by doing something Trump appreciates most: winning. Bishop said Graham did it with 鈥渁 great sense of humor鈥� that Trump appreciated and because they bonded on the golf course. 鈥淵ou spend three or four hours on a golf course,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a lot of time to get to know someone.鈥�
Graham once offered a simpler explanation, telling The New York Times that his evolution on Trump was a way 鈥渢o try to be relevant.鈥�
Trump has implicitly opened the door for making up with Greene
It鈥檚 notable that one of Greene鈥檚 fights 鈥�- releasing the Epstein files -鈥� went her way, not Trump鈥檚. The president framed his retreat as something he was fine with all along. Even on health care, Greene can claim some measure of victory. The White House and GOP Hill leaders have countered expiring health insurance tax credits by offering a different potential subsidy: direct payments to consumers as they shop for polices.
Greene certainly has options. She has personal financial security, with her ethics disclosures suggesting a net worth in the many millions of dollars. She has 1.6 million followers on X. She has long been a feature on the conservative media circuit 鈥� notably dating Brian Glenn, a right-wing White House correspondent for Real America鈥檚 Voice. And her recent break with Trump came with appearances on mainstream media, including ABC鈥檚 鈥淭he View.鈥�
She could still run for Georgia governor, which will be an open seat, or for the U.S. Senate seat held by Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff. But Greene acknowledged Trump鈥檚 potential power in her heavily Republican House district, saying she wanted to spare her constituents an ugly primary fight.
鈥淥nce I left her, she was gone because she would never have survived the primary,鈥� Trump told reporters. He added in a separate NBC interview that the congresswoman has 鈥済ot to take a little rest.鈥�
Still, the president rebuffed any suggestion that there is any need for 鈥渇orgiveness鈥� in their relationship, and he told NBC, 鈥淚 can patch up differences with anyone.鈥�
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Associated Press writer Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
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