It has been a head-spinning 48 hours in Washington. Liberal TV host Rachel Maddow showed up at the funeral of conservative vice-president Dick Cheney. Donald Trump embraced Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist set to be the first Muslim mayor of New York, like a brother.

And then Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump acolyte-turned-nemesis who bested him over the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, stunned the political establishment again. In what should have been her hour of triumph, the Maga star abruptly announced that she was quitting the House of Representatives.

Everyone seemed surprised but one man was very happy. “I think it’s great news for the country,” Trump told ABC News. “It’s great.”

It was also great news for a president having the worst month of his second term. Trump’s approval rating is in freefall. Democrats romped to victory in elections. Unthinkably, even the Republican party is finding a spine, defying him on the Epstein files, Senate filibuster and congressional redistricting in Indiana.

They know that every day takes Trump a little further away from his epic comeback victory in 2024 and a little closer to the status of a lame duck. Watching the limelight and cameras shift from the Oval Office to his would-be successors may be too much for him to bear.

But Greene’s departure shows all that may be wishful thinking for now. In one timeline, she could have used the Epstein win as the foundation of an anti-Trump resistance in the Republican ranks. The party has spent the past decade demonstrating that cowardice is contagious; perhaps the courage to reassert congressional autonomy would be too.

It was not to be. Instead Greene follows the likes of fellow dissenters Liz Cheney, Bob Corker, Jeff Flake and Adam Kinzinger in heading for the exit. Trump has presided over the homogenisation of the Republican party: you are loyal to him or you are out. He drives out opposition with the fear and intimidation tactics of a mob boss.

Trump’s backing can make all the difference in Republican primary contests that select which candidate will run for Congress. He endorsed a challenger to Cheney in Wyoming and she was duly unseated. Weary of Greene’s independent streak, he called her “wacky”, accused her of going “far left” and pledged to endorse a primary challenger “if the right person runs”.

Greene could have fought a primary in her Georgia district and maybe won. But it would have taken place in a poisonous and violent political climate. She says the insults from Trump have already led to unwanted pizza deliveries, hoax emergency calls and death threats. He has given his antagonists too many reasons not to run.

Explaining her decision, Greene said: “I have too much self-respect and dignity, love my family way too much, and do not want my sweet district to have to endure a hurtful and hateful primary against me by the president we all fought for, only to fight and win my election while Republicans will likely lose the midterms. I refuse to be a battered wife hoping it all goes away and gets better.”

The image of a “battered wife” is one that will linger, especially in light of Trump’s recent misogynistic outbursts and those who defend them.

Greene, 51, did not indicate in her resignation speech what she will do next. Her sudden break from Trump prompted speculation that she is lining up her own presidential bid in 2028, although she has dismissed that “baseless gossip”.

Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin told the Axios news site on Friday: “I wouldn’t be surprised if MTG runs for president as a rightwing independent in 2028.”

Kinzinger said on the Bulwark podcast: “I’ll give her a little credit, which is she could see the tea leaves, which is like, Trump is going away, if I want to run for president or governor or whatever – I can be the former crazy that now is normal. It’s not a bad tactic to be honest with you because you’ll maintain credit with the crazies.”

When it comes to crazy, Greene used to be most famous for endorsing the death penalty against her opponents, heckling Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and theorising that a wildfire was caused by a space laser controlled by a Jewish banking family. She argued in 2019 that Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, both Muslim women, were not “official” members of Congress because they used Qur’ans rather than Bibles in their swearing-in ceremonies.

But last week she hinted at a conversion on the road to Damascus. Greene told CNN she was “sorry for taking part in the toxic politics” of recent years, acknowledging that “it’s very bad for our country”. Does this mean she will now stand for civility, tolerance and building bridges? If so, the tragedy is she will be anywhere but Washington.