Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she hopes she and President Donald Trump can make amends amid their fierce public feud over the controversy surrounding accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

"I certainly hope that we can make up," Greene told CNN's Dana Bash on Nov. 16 when asked if the president and the Georgia Republican have a path forward. "I can only speak for myself. I'm a Christian, and one of the most important parts of our faith is forgiveness, and that's something I'm committed to."

Greene noted that she was once one of Trump's top allies in the Make America Great Again movement. But their rift comes as she pushes the House to vote to release all of the government's files on Epstein. The Trump administration has blocked the release, in defiance of a campaign promise, and now refers to the situation as a hoax.

"I stand with rape victims. I stand with children who are in terrible sex abuse situations, and I stand with survivors of trafficking and those that are trapped in in sex trafficking, and I will not apologize for that," Greene told CNN.

"I believe the country deserves transparency in these files, and I don't believe that that rich, powerful people should be protected if they have if they have done anything wrong, and so I'm standing with the women," she said.

During the interview, Bash referred to a post from Greene on X, in which the lawmaker said the back-and-forth "really makes you wonder what is in those files."

"Are you suggesting there's something in the Epstein files that President Trump does not want Americans to see?" Bash asked Greene. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in his connection with Epstein, and the men had a major falling out in the 2000s.

"That's the part that has so many people confused, is that the women themselves that I have talked to have over and over again said that Donald Trump did nothing wrong," she said. "Quite a few of them even told me they voted for him, and those are the women I would like to see in the Oval Office with support."

Greene noted that Virginia Giuffre, who has accused Epstein of sweeping abuse, wrote in her recently released book that she met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, and he "couldn’t have been friendlier, telling me it was fantastic that I was there."

While the conservative Georgia firebrand said she's willing to make up, she also criticized Trump's talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and accused him of dialing up the political temperature.

Greene says Syria talks hurt American military members

Trump last week vowed to do everything he could to make Syria successful after landmark talks with al-Sharaa. It marked the first-ever visit by a Syrian president to Washington, though Greene noted that al-Sharaa is a former al-Qaeda commander who, until recently, was sanctioned by Washington as a foreign terrorist.

  • "I can disagree with the president at times, especially particularly this past Monday on the Marines' 250th anniversary, when he honored the new Syrian president, who is an al Qaeda terrorist and was wanted by our government for years," Greene told CNN.
  • "I very much am against that. I think that was very hurtful to the great men and women who served over in the Middle East and were sent there, and many of them that were killed and injured and live with PTSD to this day from fighting al-Qaeda," she added.

Trump earlier this year said he would order the end of sanctions against Syria to "give them a chance of greatness" in an effort to normalize relations with the new Syrian government after the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Greene says Trump has put her at risk

The Georgia lawmaker, who has long been a firebrand on the right and has previously promoted widely condemned conspiracy theories, said she now wants Americans to "end the toxic fighting in politics." She said the most "hurtful" thing Trump has said in their split is calling her a "traitor."

  • "Those are the types of words used that can radicalize people against me and put my life in danger," Greene said.
  • The comment came after Greene claimed in a post on X on Nov. 15 that she was "contacted by private security firms with warnings for my safety as a hot bed of threats against me are being fueled and egged on by the most powerful man in the world."

Responding to Greene's comments on Sunday, Nov. 16, Trump told reporters traveling with him in Palm Beach, Florida, "I don't think her life is in danger. Frankly, I don't think anybody cares about her."

Bash pressed Greene about her own history with harsh political rhetoric, noting, "With respect, I haven't heard you speak out about it until it was directed at you."

  • "Dana, I think that's fair criticism," Greene said. "And I would like to say, humbly, I'm sorry for taking part in the toxic politics it's very bad for our country."

Contributing: Zac Anderson, Joey Garrison, and Erin Mansfield, USA TODAY; Reuters

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Hope to make up'. Marjorie Taylor Greene weighs in on her fight with Donald Trump

Reporting by Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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