ATLANTA (AP) — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene built a reputation in Congress as a fighter, first as a defender of President Donald Trump and more recently, as someone who clashed with him.

So Greene's decision to resign from the House after publicly disagreeing with the president came as a surprise to some in her home state of Georgia, who say it goes against character for the Republican. They believe Greene could have withstood the pressure and been reelected to the House — even without the president's backing.

Greene's decision has raised questions about the strength of Trump's hold in a narrowly divided Congress, even as he touts his party’s unity ahead of next year’s midterm elections. It also has prompted speculation about what may be next for Greene, who was first elected to the House in 2020 and was at the forefront of Trump’s MAGA movement.

Greene quickly became a lightning rod on Capitol Hill for her often beyond-mainstream views. But she angered Trump on some recent issues, including by pushing for the release of files about sexual abuser Jeffrey Epstein.

Before Greene announced her resignation in a video late Friday, Trump branded her a “traitor” and “wacky.” As he has done in previous election cycles about lawmakers he viewed as “disloyal," Trump said he would endorse a challenger seeking to primary her year.

‘She could have won’

In her resignation announcement video, Greene said she didn’t want her district “to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the president we all fought for.”

But Georgia Republican strategist Brian Robinson, who worked for one of Greene’s primary opponents in her 2020 House race, said he believes “she could have won.”

“Trump’s attention is going to be divided a million different ways in the spring of 2026. And she’s got good will,” he said. “Georgians are that rare American breed who have rejected Trump’s suggestions in a primary and done so by fairly stark margins.”

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock III thinks Greene may have overestimated Trump’s electoral power in the state. Greene has a strong following in her district, Bullock noted, and many Georgia officials beat back primary opponents whom Trump endorsed in 2022.

“Georgia may be an exception to the ability Trump has or is perceived to have in terms of determining primary outcomes," Bullock said. "Georgians may be a bit more independent thinkers.”

Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon said Greene is still very popular in her district. But he said Trump is also popular in Georgia and he doesn’t “see that waning at all.” He presumes those looking to take over her seat will vie for Trump’s support.

McKoon also thinks the two will make up.

“They generally want the same things and to pursue the same agenda," McKoon said. "They may have different ways they want to go about it, but that’s what this argument has been about, more so than the collective agenda for the Republican Party.”

A united GOP?

Greene said in her video that Republicans will likely lose House control in the midterm elections, and she would then “be expected to defend the president against impeachment after he hatefully dumped tens of millions of dollars against me and tried to destroy me" — a situation she called “absurd and completely unserious.”

Since her announcement, Trump has been lauding his party's cohesion, posting on social media Sunday that the GOP “has never been so UNITED AS IT iS RIGHT NOW!” other than Greene “and a couple of other ‘lowlifes.’”

Some Republicans in Greene’s district are backing both Greene and Trump. On its Facebook page, Floyd County GOP leaders expressed “unwavering support” for Greene which, they added, “does not in any way, however, diminish our total support” for Trump.

“While there may exist modest disagreements between the two, mostly on certain foreign policy issues, it can be healthy in politics to voice and debate those issues and allow the people to ultimately weigh in on their resolution,” they added, inviting Trump to return to the area “for the two to once again join hands in supporting America First and Foremost.”

To Bullock, Greene’s decisions to resign and break with Trump may reveal that the “emperor has feet of clay.”

“It might be the first crack in Trump’s image,” said Bullock.

Republican-turned-Democrat Geoff Duncan, Georgia’s former lieutenant governor now running for the state’s top spot, said Monday that the schism is endemic of a “Donald Trump crisis that’s happening all across the Republican party.”

“If somebody like Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has drank literally more MAGA juice than anybody I know in this country, is not willing to stand with Donald Trump or remotely play the game with him, then that speaks volumes” to the “level of crisis” within the party, Duncan told The Associated Press. “Donald Trump’s biggest cheerleader no longer cheers for him.”

What is MTG up to next?

For Robinson, the Trump-Greene breakup marks less of a statement on Trump’s power than the reality of a woman who seems to have grown too weary of politics to go on.

“I’m kind of in the boat that she’s exhausted and wants a break,” he said.

Greene announced in May that she wouldn’t run for the Senate against Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff, while attacking GOP donors and consultants who feared she couldn’t win. Two months later, she said she wouldn’t run for Georgia governor, either.

There had been speculation that the 2028 presidential race was in Greene's sights, but Sunday on X she knocked that down, writing, "I’m not running for President and never said I wanted to and have only laughed about it when anyone would mention it.”

____

Kinnard reported from Columbia, South Carolina, and Colvin from New York.