The dismissal of Greene — once the epitome of “Make America Great Again,” sporting the signature red cap for President Joe Biden’s 2024 State of the Union address and acting as a go-between for Trump and other Capitol Hill Republicans — appeared to be the final break in a dispute simmering for months, as Greene has seemingly moderated her political profile. The three-term U.S. House member has increasingly dissented from Republican leaders, attacking them during the just-ended federal government shutdown and saying they need a plan to help people who are losing subsidies to afford health insurance policies.

Accusing the Georgia Republican of going “Far Left,” Trump wrote that all he had witnessed from Greene in recent months is “COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN, COMPLAIN!” adding, of Greene’s purported irritation that he doesn’t return her phone calls, “I can’t take a ranting Lunatic’s call every day.”

In a response on X, Greene wrote Friday that Trump had “attacked me and lied about me.” She added a screenshot of a text she said she had sent the president earlier in the day about releasing the Jeffrey Epstein files, which she said “is what sent him over the edge.”

Greene called it “astonishing really how hard he’s fighting to stop the Epstein files from coming out that he actually goes to this level,” referencing next week’s U.S. House vote over releasing the Epstein files.

Writing that she had supported Trump “with too much of my precious time, too much of my own money, and fought harder for him even when almost all other Republicans turned their back and denounced him,” Greene added, “I don’t worship or serve Donald Trump.”

Trump’s post seemingly tied a bow of finality to fissures that widened following this month’s off-cycle elections, in which voters in the New Jersey and Virginia governor races flocked to Democrats in large part over concerns about the cost of living.

Last week, Greene told NBC News that “watching the foreign leaders come to the White House through a revolving door is not helping Americans,” saying that Trump needs to focus on high prices at home rather than his recent emphasis on foreign affairs. Trump responded by saying that Greene had “lost her way.”

Asked about Greene’s comments earlier Friday as he flew from Washington to Florida, Trump reiterated that he felt “something happened to her over the last month or two,” saying that, if he hadn’t gone to China to meet leader Xi Jinping, there would have been negative ramifications for jobs in Georgia and elsewhere because China would have kept its curbs on magnet exports.

Saying that people have been calling him, wanting to challenge Greene, Trump added, “She’s lost a wonderful conservative reputation.”

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. In June, she publicly sided with Tucker Carlson after Trump called the commentator “kooky” in a schism that emerged between MAGA and national security hardliners over possible U.S. efforts at regime change in Iran.

That only intensified in July, when Greene said she wouldn’t run for governor. Then, she attacked a political “good ole boy” system, alleging it was endangering Republican control of the state. Greene embarked on a charm offensive in recent weeks, with interviews and appearances in media aimed at people who aren’t hardcore Trump supporters. Asked on comedian Tim Dillon’s podcast if she wanted to run for president in 2028, Greene said in October, “I hate politics so much” and just wanted “to fix problems” — but didn’t give a definitive answer.

That climaxed with an appearance on Bill Maher’s HBO show “Real Time,” followed days later by a Nov. 4 appearance on ABC’s “The View.” Some observers began pronouncing Greene as reasonable as she trashed Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana for not calling Republicans back to Washington and coming up with a health care plan.

“I feel like I’m sitting next to a completely different Marjorie Taylor Greene,” said “The View” co-host Sunny Hostin.

“Maybe you should become a Democrat, Marjorie,” said co-host Joy Behar.

“I’m not a Democrat,” Greene replied. “I think both parties have failed.”

___

Jeff Amy contributed reporting from Atlanta.

Her effort paid off when she ousted a 36-year Republican from his state House seat. She was one of 13 Virginia Democrats to flip competitive House seats and contribute to big election wins in her state and New Jersey, the only ones with governor’s races this year.

“We would greet them at the point of purchase,” Cole said. “That’s when it hurts most.”

The cost of living also may have led voters to signal that this is President Donald Trump’s economy now. Some prices have stabilized or even declined, and costs tend to be higher in New Jersey than Virginia. But economic concerns, which helped Trump return to power in 2024, appeared to weigh Republicans down in the two contests for governor in the first major election after they took control of the White House and Congress, according to the AP Voter Poll.

Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill, who won those races in Virginia and New Jersey, respectively, campaigned hard on economic issues and led a sweep for their party in both states.

The swings were especially dramatic in suburban and exurban areas like Spotsylvania and Morris County, New Jersey. Morris County is part of a traditionally Republican state legislative district where liberal Democrat Marisa Sweeney and one of two incumbent Republicans are so close in the vote count that The Associated Press considers the race, which will have two winners, too close to call.

“You go into the grocery store, you see what things cost, and it’s just not working,” Sweeney said.

Paying the bills

Over the past decade, places like Morris and Spotsylvania counties have become increasingly competitive — communities just beyond major metro areas where midterms are often won or lost. Morris County is about 30 miles west of New York City; Spotsylvania County is just south of Fredericksburg. Each is about two-thirds white, slightly wealthier than the national average, and at or above it in the share of residents with bachelor’s degrees.

Heading into 2025, both looked like they would be close. Cole’s district includes part of the Republican-leaning county, which Trump carried in 2020 and 2024, and GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin won it by more than 20 percentage points in between.

Still, Cole remained persuaded that she could flip her district, which includes part of Spotsylvania and Caroline counties.

“Early on in my campaign, when I brought in my staff, one of the main messages I talked to them about was that we need to stop saying this district is red, and that it leans red,” Cole said, adding: “We had to give some encouragement that this is possible to the people who aren’t red.”

Cole, who was elected to the Spotsylvania County School Board in 2021, developed a playbook focused on the cost of living and education. Two weeks before the Nov. 4 election, she spoke at a town hall in Fredericksburg about tackling high energy bills from electric utilities.

“You know you have to have heat and air, and a utility bill that has to get paid,” she said. “So then something else is a sacrifice. The quality of food that you’re able to buy for your kids is a sacrifice.”

As she greeted voters in November after the election, most people were tired of talking politics. But one voter, Kaitlyn Sapp, seemed interested in learning what Democrats would do for her.

“I did not vote this year,” Sapp said. “I have not been very political. But recently, I have been trying to learn more.”

Cole smiled, not wasting a second before rattling off the issues her party aimed to tackle next year: health care costs, public education, utility bills and so on.

Prices to pay

Morris County also swung dramatically to Democrats.

It was one of just four New Jersey counties to back both Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race and Republican Jack Ciattarelli in the governor’s race the next year. Biden won Morris County by 4 percentage points, and Ciattarelli carried it by more than 11 percentage points. That 15.5 percentage point swing was the sixth-largest among the state’s 21 counties. By 2024, Trump narrowly flipped Morris County, winning it by just under 3 percentage points.

This time around, Sherrill edged Ciattarelli there.

Sherrill’s victory is not all that surprising, and she is no stranger to the county. The governor-elect represented it while serving in Congress, and had a track record of working with state Republicans in the county.

“She has a lot of crossover appeal with Republican voters,” said Darcy Draeger, chairwoman of the Morris County Democrats.

Voters seemed to pay attention to how the president’s policies were affecting them, said Sweeney, whose district includes part of the county.

“People are watching the news and they’re looking to see what goes on in Trump’s administration, and they are seeing how it affects people locally, and with the whole government shutdown and people losing their SNAP benefits,” Sweeney said. “We’re talking about people within our own communities.”

It’s an outlook shared by some conservatives. The all-encompassing effect of Trump’s second administration and his clash with congressional Democrats cost the party in New Jersey, Republicans said.

“We need to make sure that our constituents understand that we are here to serve and that we’re listening to their voices,” said Republican state Sen. Anthony Bucco of Morris County. “I think the message was drowned out a little bit by Washington.”

Passaic, a northern New Jersey county not far from New York, is another area that shows a shift back to Democrats. The county, which has heavily Latino areas, went for Trump in 2024, the first time it went for a Republican in decades. This year, it swung back to Democrats by double digits.

John Currie, the longtime Democratic chairman in Passaic, chalked up the swing back to his party there to “hard work” by those running, along with a message about lowering costs. And by not talking about costs enough, Currie said Republicans paid the ultimate price.

“Affordability – it’s that simple.”

Just like the president who came before him, Trump is trying to sell the country on his plans to create factory jobs. The Republican wants to lower prescription drug costs, as did Democratic President Joe Biden. Both tried to shame companies for price increases.

Trump is even leaning on a message that echoes Biden’s claims in 2021 that elevated inflation is simply a “transitory” problem that will soon vanish.

“We’re going to be hitting 1.5% pretty soon,” Trump told reporters Monday. ”It’s all coming down.”

Even as Trump keeps saying an economic boom is around the corner, there are signs that he has already exhausted voters’ patience as his campaign promises to fix inflation instantly have gone unfulfilled.

Voters are growing frustrated with Trump on inflation

Voters in this month’s elections swung hard to Democrats over concerns about affordability. That has left Trump, who dismisses his weak polling on the economy as fake, floating half-formed ideas to ease financial pressures.

He is promising a $2,000 rebate on his tariffs and said he may stretch the 30-year mortgage to 50 years to reduce the size of monthly payments. On Friday, Trump scrapped his tariffs on beef, coffee, tea, fruit juice, cocoa, spices, bananas, oranges, tomatoes and certain fertilizers, saying they “may, in some cases” have contributed to higher prices.

But those are largely “gimmicky” moves unlikely to move the needle much on inflation, said Bharat Ramamurti, a former deputy director of Biden’s National Economic Council.

“They’re in this very tough position where they’ve developed a reputation for not caring enough about costs, where the tools they have available to them are unlikely to be able to help people in the short term,” Ramamurti said.

Ramamurti said the Biden administration learned the hard way that voters are not appeased by a president saying his policies would ultimately cause their incomes to rise.

“That argument does not resonate,” he said. “Take it from me.”

How inflation hit Biden’s presidency

Biden inherited an economy trying to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, which had shut down schools and offices, causing mass layoffs and historic levels of government borrowing. In March 2021, he signed into law a $1.9 trillion relief package. Critics said that was excessive and could cause prices to rise.

As the economy reopened, there were shortages of computer chips, kitchen appliances, autos and even furniture. Cargo ships were stuck waiting to dock at ports, creating supply chain issues. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 pushed up energy and food costs, and consumer prices reached a four-decade high that June. The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rates to cool inflation.

Biden tried to convince Americans that the economy was strong. “Bidenomics is working,” Biden said in a 2023 speech. “Today, the U.S. has had the highest economic growth rate, leading the world economies since the pandemic.”

His arguments did little to sway voters as only 36% of U.S. adults in August 2023 approved of his handling of the economy, according to a poll at the time by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Trump might be his own worst enemy on inflation

Republicans made the case that Biden’s policies made inflation worse. Democrats are using that same framing against Trump today.

Here is their argument: Trump’s tariffs are getting passed along to consumers in the form of higher prices; his cancellation of clean energy projects means there will be fewer new sources of electricity as utility bills climb; his mass deportations made it costlier for the immigrant-heavy construction sector to build houses.

Biden administration officials note that Trump came into office with strong growth, a solid job market and inflation declining close to historic levels, only for him to reverse those trends.

“It’s striking how many Americans are aware of his trade policy and rightly blame the turnaround in prices on that erratic policy,” said Gene Sperling, a senior Biden adviser who also led the National Economic Council in the Obama and Clinton administrations.

“He is in a tough trap of his own doing — and it’s not likely to get easier,” Sperling said.

Consumer prices had been increasing at an annual rate of 2.3% in April when Trump launched his tariffs, and that rate accelerated to 3% in September.

The inflationary surge has been less than what voters endured under Biden, but the political fallout so far appears to be similar: 67% of U.S. adults disapprove of Trump’s performance, according to November polling data from AP-NORC.

“In both instances, the president caused a non-trivial share of the inflation,” said Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a center-right think tank. “I think President Biden didn’t take this concern seriously enough in his first few months in office and President Trump isn’t taking this concern seriously enough right now.”

Strain noted that the two presidents have even responded to the dilemma in “weirdly, eerily similar ways” by playing down inflation as a problem, pointing to other economic indicators and looking to address concerns by issuing government checks.

White House bets its policies can tame inflation

Trump officials have made the case that their mix of income tax cuts, foreign investment frameworks tied to tariffs and changes in enforcing regulations will lead to more factories and jobs. All of that, they say, could increase the supply of goods and services and reduce the forces driving inflation.

“The policies that we’re pursuing right now are increasing supply,” Kevin Hassett, director of Trump’s National Economic Council, told the Economic Club of Washington on Wednesday.

The Fed has cut its benchmark interest rates, which could increase the supply of money in the economy for investment. But the central bank has done so because of a weakening job market despite inflation being above its 2% target, and there are concerns that rate cuts of the size Trump wants could fuel more inflation.

Time might not be on Trump’s side

It takes time for consumer sentiment to improve after the inflation rate drops, according to research done by Ryan Cummings, an economist who worked on Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers.

His read of the University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment is that the effects of the postpandemic rise in inflation are no longer a driving factor. These days, voters are frustrated because Trump had primed them to believe he could lower grocery prices and other expenses, but has failed to deliver.

“When it comes to structural affordability issues — housing, child care, education, and health care — Trump has pushed in the wrong direction in each one,” said Cummings, who is now chief of staff at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.

He said Trump’s best chance of beating inflation now might be “if he gets a very lucky break on commodity prices” through a bumper harvest worldwide and oil production continuing to run ahead of demand.

For now, Trump has decided to continue to rely on attacking Biden for anything that has gone wrong in the economy, as he did on Monday in an interview with Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle.”

“The problem was that Biden did this,” Trump said.