The president’s recent announcement signals a significant political split that has been developing for weeks. This marks an escalation in the ongoing conflict between the two former allies, whose relationship has soured as Greene has openly criticized Trump on various issues.

The situation has turned into a dramatic exchange of accusations, with renewed focus on the controversial Epstein case capturing attention in Washington once more.

In a statement, the president remarked, “She has shared with many that she is frustrated by my lack of response to her calls. However, with 219 Congress members, 53 Senators, 24 Cabinet officials, interactions with nearly 200 countries, and a typical life to manage, I cannot entertain calls from a ranting individual every day.”

In recent weeks, Greene has publicly expressed concern that Trump is overly concentrated on foreign affairs, neglecting to effectively promote his domestic policies. She has voiced this critique on platforms like CNN and ABC’s The View.

Since entering Congress in 2021, Greene has been a fervent and vocal supporter of Trump, though this allegiance appears to be shifting.

She added on Saturday that she is facing threats against her, which she said Trump had helped fuel.

Trump defended his efforts to engage with foreign leaders and travel abroad amid Greene’s criticism, suggesting that his relationships on the world stage have benefited her district and expressing openness to endorsing a potential primary challenger.

“Marjorie Taylor Greene said, ‘Oh, gee, I’m spending too much time overseas. So let’s say I don’t meet with China. You know what’s happened right now to Georgia? To every other state?” Trump said aboard Air Force One.

He continued: “They’re not working because your magnets and your rare earths would’ve kicked in, and there wouldn’t have been a factory in the world working if I didn’t have a relationship overseas with China.”

Trump said that he is in the United States “95, 98 per cent of the time.”

“The last thing I want to do is travel 22 hours in an airplane, as nice as this plane is,” he said.

Trump warned that Greene has “changed” politically in recent weeks as the Georgia congresswoman has publicly lambasted the White House’s messaging on the government shutdown and Epstein.

“I think that her constituents aren’t going to be happy. Already, I have people calling me. They want to challenge her to a race in her district in Georgia,” Trump said.

He also said he was open to endorsing a rival GOP candidate in a primary race.

Greene is one of four House Republicans who signed on to a discharge petition to force a vote on release of Justice Department documents pertaining to the Epstein case, but CNN has reported that the number of House Republicans who could break from Trump and vote for the files’ release could be greater.

Trump has repeatedly and emphatically described calls for transparency around his ties to Epstein as a “hoax.”

But Greene’s message has also extended more broadly to target Trump’s economic policies, suggesting that the White House needs to improve its messaging on affordability issues.

Greene fired back in her social media post with a pair of screenshots of text messages that appeared to be sent to Trump and his aide Natalie Harp.

Most Americans, she wrote, “wish he would fight this hard to help the forgotten men and women of America who are fed up with foreign wars and foreign causes, are going broke trying to feed their families, and are losing hope of ever achieving the American dream.”

In a message to a contact in her phone labelled “DJT,” Greene encouraged Trump to “lean into” Epstein’s ties to other high-profile figures and what she described as the “deep state.”

In a separate message to Harp, she voiced her support for Trump but said the White House must “stop ignoring the women. … Them being raped as teenagers is not a hoax.”