Who is Marjorie Taylor Greene? The Trump ally known for embracing conspiracies and insulting journalists
Hard-right Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene has become one of the most aggressive spokespeople for the “Make America Great Again” movement.
The representative from Georgia has become infamous for her combative encounters with journalists and fellow politicians and her susceptibility to conspiracy theories.
Here’s a look at how she rose to prominence and some of her most controversial moments.
Who is Marjorie Taylor Greene?
Ms Taylor Greene is, according to her bio on X: “Congresswoman for GA-14, Christian, mom, small business owner.”
She was elected to Congress in 2020 and quickly became a powerful – and vocal – player in the Republican Party.
Often known by her initials MTG, she also proclaims herself to be a “proud American, 100% pro-life, pro-gun, pro-Trump”.
She is a staunch ally of Donald Trump, whose political style she emulates.
Donald Trump greets Marjorie Taylor Greene after addressing a joint session of Congress. Pic: AP
She has downplayed and justified the 6 January Capitol insurrection, claiming the rioters would have “won” and “been armed” if she had organised it.
After the White House called her comments “dangerous, abhorrent”, Ms Taylor Greene said she had been joking.
In 2021, she was stripped of her committee assignments by House of Representatives managers over racist comments, her embracing of conspiracy theories and her past endorsement of violence against Democratic officials.
She was widely denounced for comparing COVID-19 masks and vaccinations to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust.
On social media, she had made posts advocating violence against Democrat opponents and casting doubt on the 9/11 terror attacks and the school mass shootings at Parkland and Sandy Hook.
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And she had voiced loud backing for QAnon, the popular conspiracy that the Trump administration was waging a secret fight against an evil global cabal including a Democrat paedophile ring.
Before being kicked off committees, Ms Taylor Greene stated her case on the House floor, employing a mixture of back-pedalling and finger-pointing while wearing a dark mask emblazoned with the words “Free Speech”.
She told House members her support for QAnon was “words of the past” and that she no longer believes in it, but did not explicitly apologise for other controversial remarks.
Telling Sky News reporter to ‘go back to your own country’
Ms Taylor Greene snapped at Sky News’ US correspondent Martha Kelner after she was asked about the group chat that The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief was mistakenly added to, where top US officials discussed war plans in Yemen.
Asked by Kelner if she had seen the latest information on the leak, Ms Taylor Greene said she wasn’t willing to discuss The Atlantic.
Asked if she believed the information shared on the chat was classified, she said the Trump administration had said it “was not” and added: “I think this is a continuance of someone like you [Kelner] to try to push an issue that isn’t even relevant.”
Before Kelner could ask her next question, the politician interjected: “Wait, what country are you from?”
When Kelner said the UK, she responded: “Ok well we don’t give a crap about your opinion, or your reporting. Why don’t you go back to your country where you have a major migrant problem.”
You can watch the full exchange below, and see Kelner’s thoughts here.
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Sky reporter told ‘go back to your own country’
David Cameron ‘can kiss my ass’
Ms Taylor Greene made comments aimed at former prime minister David Cameron that truly “put her on the map” in the UK.
They came in February 2024, after the then-foreign secretary wrote an article calling for the US to commit to funding for Ukraine and drew comparisons between the West’s treatment of Hitler and Putin.
Many Republicans – including Ms Taylor Greene – were against upping the US’s Ukraine funding.
Asked about his comments, Ms Taylor Greene told Sky News: “David Cameron needs to worry about his own country and, frankly, he can kiss my ass.”
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David Cameron ‘can kiss my a**’
She suggested that comparing a refusal to vote through the funding with appeasement of Hitler in the 1930s was “rude name-calling and I don’t appreciate that type of language”.
In a post on X later, she said the remarks would not “bully me into funding the war in Ukraine”.
Lord Cameron laughed her comments off during a speech at the Munich Security Conference, in which he said he had met Ms Taylor Greene.
“We met,” he told the audience in Germany. “I went to the Republican study group lunch, talking about exactly this issue.”
“We didn’t get anatomical at that stage, it was very early in our relationship,” he joked.
‘Why don’t you f*** off, how about that?’
Kelner wasn’t the first British reporter Ms Taylor Greene took issue with.
In March 2024, she ended a conversation with Emily Maitlis by responding: “Really why don’t you f*** off, how about that?”
In a video clip posted to podcast The News Agents’ social media channels, Maitlis started the line of questioning by asking Ms Taylor Greene why “so many people that support Donald Trump love conspiracy theories, including yourself?”
She added that he “seems to attract lots of conspiracy theorists”.
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Tells reporter to ‘f*** off’
Ms Taylor Greene replied: “Well let me tell you, you’re a conspiracy theorist and the left and the media spreads more conspiracy theories.
“We like the truth, we like supporting our constitution, our freedoms and America first, so…”
As Ms Taylor Greene started to walk away, Maitlis asked: “What about Jewish space lasers? Tell us about Jewish space lasers” – a reference to a conspiracy theory the politician had peddled.
The Republican right-winger replied: “Why don’t you go talk about Jewish space lasers, and really why don’t you f*** off, how about that?”
The other half of ‘MAGA America’s favourite couple’
Ms Taylor Greene is in a relationship with Brian Glenn, who is the host of Real America’s Voice.
Mr Glenn referred to himself as the other half of “MAGA America’s favourite couple” in an interview with Politico.
He is chief White House correspondent for the right-wing streaming channel, which grants him access to the White House press pool.
Real America’s Voice has supported numerous conspiracy theories in the past and helps distribute former Trump adviser Stephen K Bannon’s War Room podcast, after he was barred from YouTube, Spotify and other mainstream platforms.
Before joining Real America’s Voice, Mr Glenn was programme director of the Right Wing Broadcasting Network – a media company founded by Joe Seales in 2015
US
Donald Trump plans to hit Canada with new tariff – while warning of blanket hike for other countries
Donald Trump has said he plans to hit Canada with a 35% tariff on imported goods, as he warned of a blanket 15 or 20% hike for most other countries.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the US president wrote: “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”
Mr Trump’s tariffs were allegedly an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling, and the US president has expressed frustration with Canada’s trade deficit with the US.
In a statement Mr Carney said: “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
He added: “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
Mr Trump has sent a series of tariff letters to 23 countries so far, including one putting a 50% tariff on Brazil in part for the ongoing trial of its former president Jair Bolsonaro for trying to stay in office after he lost the election in 2022.
Mr Trump was similarly indicted for his efforts to overturn his election loss in 2020.
The higher rates would go into effect on 1 August.
Shortly after Mr Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April, there was a huge sell-off on the financial markets. The US president later announced a 90-day negotiating period, during which a 10% baseline tariff would be charged on most imported goods.
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But in an interview with Sky News’s partner network NBC News, Mr Trump said he plans to impose higher blanket tariffs on most US trade partners.
“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
He added: “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today.”
The US and UK signed a trade deal in June, with the US president calling it “a fair deal for both” and saying it will “produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income”.
Sir Keir Starmer said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
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The US president also teased a “major statement” he will make on Russia over its war with Ukraine.
“I’m disappointed in Russia, but we’ll see what happens over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“I think I’ll have a major statement to make on Russia on Monday.”
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It comes as Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said a new round of talks between Moscow and Washington on bilateral problems could take place before the end of the summer.
A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a claim against the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
The 30-year-old graduate student at Columbia University told Sky News’s lead world presenter Yalda Hakim being detained by ICE agents in March “felt like kidnapping”.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he said was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil said he was not presented with an arrest warrant and wasn’t told where he was being taken.
He said the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it declared were “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil said after around 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to speak to his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he said.
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‘Absolutely absurd allegations’
Mr Khalil said administration officials had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as involved in antisemitic activities and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he said. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson said its actions toward Mr Khalil were fully supported by the law.
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Asked about missing the birth of his son while he was in prison, Mr Khalil said: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
Meanwhile, the deportation case against Mr Khalil is continuing to wind its way through the immigration court system.
Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.
The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.
After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”
Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.
The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.
“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”
Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.
The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.
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Mr Trump promised the leaders of Liberia, Senegal, Gabon, Mauritania and Guinea-Bissau a pivot from aid to trade at the surprise meeting.
He described the countries as “all very vibrant places with very valuable land, great minerals, and great oil deposits, and wonderful people”.
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Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”
But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.
Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.
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