Inside the war on Trump’s new MAGA (with Marjorie Taylor Greene)

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Marjorie Taylor Greene** (0:14)
Republicans are going to get slaughtered in the midterms. And I think right now it's looking, definitely losing the House and potentially the Senate.

**Dasha Burns** (0:25)
Hello, hello, and welcome to The Conversation. I'm Dasha Burns, POLITICO's White House Bureau Chief. And every week on this show, I invite one of the most compelling and sometimes unexpected power players in Washington and beyond in for a chat. To find out how they're navigating and shaping this incredible era of American politics. And this week, I spoke with former Republican Congresswoman and MAGA firebrand, Marjorie Taylor Greene. For six years, Greene was one of President Trump's most loyal allies. And during that time, she became an influential and polarizing voice in the GOP. But late last year, Greene and Trump clashed over her push to release the Epstein files, which led to her abrupt resignation from Congress. Now, she's one of President Trump's loudest critics, calling his military action in Iran, quote, evil and madness. Greene's very public fallout with the president underscores a deeper fracture inside the MAGA movement and raises new questions about what America First actually means. We talked about her life now, this week's special election to fill her seat, and where she thinks Trump's political coalition goes from here. Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene joins The Conversation.
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, thank you so much for joining The Conversation.

**Marjorie Taylor Greene** (1:47)
Thanks for having me.

**Dasha Burns** (1:49)
I'm so glad to have you in this moment because obviously, I've been watching your commentary and there's so much about what you've been saying and some of the controversy you've been stirring to that I think is just so indicative of a moment of a real inflection point in Republican politics and really politics at large, how both parties are shifting and changing. I do want to start, though, with the latest on the war in Iran. You've obviously been outspoken about how the president has handled this. You called his comments about ending a civilization evil and madness. He ultimately didn't go through with those threats, and now we're in this fragile ceasefire. Some are saying this is a victory for the president. Others are criticizing the terms of the ceasefire and kind of where we got to here. Where do you fall on that spectrum?

**Marjorie Taylor Greene** (2:46)
I don't see anything to celebrate at all, to be honest with you. I mean, this war was completely unnecessary. It was unprovoked. And I'm not defending Iran by any means. I, of course, none of us want them to have a nuclear bomb. They chant, death to America. Those things are terrible. And military members in the past that have been killed by the Iranian regime, no, we don't support any of this. But it was an unprovoked war by Iran. However, in my eyes and many other people, I believe this is a war on behalf of Israel and it shouldn't be happening. And look at where we are now. The Strait of Hormuz was open before this war, and now it's mostly closed. The price of oil is well over $100 a barrel and continues to fluctuate, depending on the day's news. And I don't see anything to celebrate. There's many innocent people dead today because of this.
There's more than a dozen US military members dead today because of this, and hundreds have been injured. We still don't know enough about all of that. So I don't see how President Trump can take any victories. The Strait is mostly closed today. And like you said, it's a fragile ceasefire, if we can call it a ceasefire at all, because Israel was bombing Lebanon, and there was bombs continuing to fly back and forth. So I really don't see any victories.

**Dasha Burns** (4:12)
The president says that the Iranian regime has murdered Americans, and he says that protecting those lives and protecting US citizens from Iran is America first. How do you respond to that?

**Marjorie Taylor Greene** (4:25)
Of course, we want to protect American lives. I mean, everyone agrees with that. But what is America first is focusing on the things that are affecting Americans in their daily lives. And Iran was not affecting anything in Americans' daily lives. There are not bombs falling on our heads. We aren't living under missiles or drones strikes in our towns and in our cities. That's not the reality here in America. What's affecting American lives is the cost of living, high cost of health insurance, auto insurance. I read a report this morning that $100 in 2021 is now only, because of the value of the dollar going down, is now only $80. That's what is affecting American lives. The price of ground beef per pound is higher than minimum wage. That's what is affecting American lives. And focusing on solving those issues, in my opinion, is America first. And that's what I thought that we had campaigned on in 2024