Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, former Trump loyalist, says she
is resigning from Congress
[November 22, 2025]
By MICHELLE L. PRICE, LISA MASCARO and JEFF AMY
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a loyal
supporter-turned-critic of President Donald Trump who faced his
political retribution if she sought reelection, said Friday she is
resigning from Congress in January.
Greene, in a more than 10-minute video posted online, explained her
decision and said she didn’t want her congressional district “to have to
endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the president we all
fought for,” she said.
Greene’s resignation followed a public falling-out with Trump in recent
months, as the congresswoman criticized him for his stance on files
related to Jeffrey Epstein, along with foreign policy and health care.
Trump branded her a “traitor” and “wacky” and said he would endorse a
challenger against her when she ran for reelection next year.
She said her last day would be Jan. 5, 2026.
The White House did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment
Friday night.
In a brief phone call Friday night, Trump told ABC News that Greene’s
resignation is “great news for the country.” He said had no plans to
speak with Greene but wishes her well.
Greene was one of the most vocal and visible supporters of Trump’s Make
America Great Again politics, and she embraced some of his unapologetic
political style.
Her break with him was a notable fissure in his grip over conservatives,
particularly his most ardent base. But her decision to step down in the
face of his opposition put her on the same track as many of the more
moderate establishment Republicans before her who went crosswise with
Trump.
The congresswoman, who recorded the video announcing her resignation
while sitting in her living room wearing a cross necklace and with a
Christmas tree and a peace lily plant behind her, said, “My life is
filled with happiness, and my true convictions remain unchanged, because
my self-worth is not defined by a man, but instead by God.”
A crack in the MAGA movement
Greene had been closely tied to the Republican president since she
launched her political career five years ago.
In her video Friday, she underscored her longtime loyalty to Trump
except on a few issues, and said it was “unfair and wrong” that he
attacked her for disagreeing.
“Loyalty should be a two-way street and we should be able to vote our
conscience and represent our district’s interest, because our job title
is literally ‘representative,’” she said.
Greene swept to office at the forefront of Trump's MAGA movement and
quickly became a lightning rod on Capitol Hill for her often
beyond-mainstream views. In her video Friday, Greene said she had
“always been despised in Washington, D.C., and just never fit in.”
As she embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory and appeared with white
supremacists, Greene was initially opposed by party leaders but welcomed
by Trump. He called her “a real WINNER!”
Yet over time she proved a deft legislator, having aligned herself with
then-GOP leader Kevin McCarthy, who would go on to become House speaker.
She was a trusted voice on the right flank, until McCarthy was ousted in
2023.
While there has been an onslaught of lawmakers from both parties heading
for the exits ahead of next fall’s midterm elections, as the House
struggles through an often chaotic session, Greene's announced
retirement will ripple throughout the ranks — and raise questions about
her next moves.
Greene was first elected to the House in 2020. She initially planned to
run in a competitive district in northern Atlanta’s suburbs, but
relocated to the much more conservative 14th District in Georgia’s
northwest corner.
The opening in her district means Republican Gov. Brian Kemp will have
to set a special election date within 10 days of Greene’s resignation.
Such a special election would fill out the remainder of Greene’s term
through January 2027. Those elections could take place before the party
primaries in May for the next two-year term.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks before Republican
presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign
event at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre, Oct. 15, 2024, in
Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
Conspiracy-minded
Even before her election, Greene showed a penchant for harsh rhetoric
and conspiracy theories, suggesting a 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas
was a coordinated attack to spur support for new gun restrictions. In
2018, she endorsed the idea that the U.S. government perpetrated the
attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, and mused that a “so-called” plane had hit
the Pentagon.
Greene argued in 2019 that Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib,
D-Mich., both Muslim women, weren’t “official” members of Congress
because they used Qurans rather than Bibles in their swearing-in
ceremonies.
She was once a sympathizer with QAnon, an online network that believes a
global cabal of Satan-worshipping cannibals, including U.S. government
leaders, operates a child sex trafficking ring. She eventually distanced
herself, saying she got “sucked into some of the things I had seen on
the internet.”
During the pandemic, she drew backlash and apologized for comparing the
wearing of safety masks to the horrors of the Holocaust.
She also drew ridicule and condemnation after a conspiracy she
speculated about on Facebook in 2018, in which she suggested a
California wildfire may have been caused by “lasers or blue beams of
light” controlled by a left-wing cabal tied to a prominent Jewish
family.
When Trump was out of power between his first and second terms, Greene
was often a surrogate for his views and brash style in Washington.
While then-President Joe Biden delivered his State of the Union address
in 2022, Greene stood up and began chanting “Build the wall,” referring
to the U.S.-Mexico border wall that Trump began in his first term.
Last year, when Biden gave his last State of the Union address, Greene
again drew attention as she confronted him over border security and the
killing of a nursing student from Georgia, Laken Riley, by an immigrant
in the country illegally.
Greene, wearing a red MAGA hat and a T-shirt about Riley, handed the
president a button that said “Say Her Name.” The congresswoman then
shouted that at the president midway through his speech.
Frustration with the GOP
But this year, her first serving with Trump in the White House, cracks
began to appear slowly in her steadfast support — before it broke wide
open.
Greene’s discontent dates back at least to May, when she announced she
wouldn’t run for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff,
while attacking GOP donors and consultants who feared she couldn’t win.
Greene’s restlessness only intensified in July, when she announced she
wouldn’t run for Georgia governor, either.
She was also frustrated with the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill,
which worked in lockstep with the president.
Greene said in her video that “the legislature has been mostly
sidelined” since Republicans took unified control of Washington in
January and her bills “just sit collecting dust."
“That’s how it is for most members of Congress’ bills,” she said. “The
speaker never brings them to the floor for a vote.”
Messages left with House Speaker Mike Johnson's office were not
immediately returned.
Republicans will likely lose the midterms elections next year, Greene
said, and then she’d “be expected to defend the president against
impeachment after he hatefully dumped tens of millions of dollars
against me and tried to destroy me.”
“It’s all so absurd and completely unserious,” she said. “I refuse to be
a battered wife hoping it all goes away and gets better.”
___
Amy reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Jonathan J. Cooper in
Phoenix contributed to this report.
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