Wes Moore talks about being excluded from President Trump’s meeting with governors
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said the NGA would not attend the White House Governor’s Breakfast after some governors were excluded.
WASHINGTON – Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said he was not invited and does not plan to attend the governors’ working breakfast at the White House this week after President Donald Trump repeatedly insulted his state.
“No. The president has made it clear many times that he doesn’t want to meet with me, so I’m fine with that,” Moore, a Democrat, said in a Feb. 18 interview with USA TODAY.
President Trump has singled out Moore for criticism, blaming him for the Potomac sewage spill and criticizing his response to the Baltimore bridge collapse, sparking controversy over his military career. Moore is up for re-election this year and is considered a possible candidate for president in 2028, but has said he sees no reason to run.
President Trump initially sought to limit the traditionally bipartisan event associated with the annual National Governors Association conference in Washington to elected Republicans. The bipartisan organization, led by Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt (R), subsequently announced it would no longer participate, forcing a change in direction from the president.
Stitt then told the governors that Trump would invite all members of the organization to a breakfast on February 20th. But later that day, President Trump said in a social media post that Stitt had misstated his position regarding the Feb. 21 meeting and another dinner. Trump said all governors except Democrats Moore and Colorado’s Jared Polis have been invited to the policy breakfast and White House dinner.
“Invitations have been sent to all but two governors, and I don’t think they deserve to attend,” Trump said.
The president said he would not invite Polis or “the foul-mouthed Maryland governor who falsely claimed to have received military medals, who has done a terrible job rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge, and who is allowing Baltimore to continue its criminal disaster.”
“I look forward to meeting the Republican governors and some of the Democratic governors who deserve an invitation, but most of them won’t show up,” Trump said in a Feb. 11 post.
Democratic governors had previously said they would not attend dinners or meetings with Moore and Polis over their exclusion from White House events. At the time of the meeting with Moore, the governors were still expected to miss the dinner, but it was unclear whether they would attend the breakfast.
Moore, 47, is NGA’s vice chairman. He told USA TODAY he plans to attend other parts of the conference, which will be held Feb. 19-21 in Washington. But he said the organization would not participate in White House events if some of its members were excluded.
“We’re definitely going to spend time together and carry on all the traditions of Republicans and Democrats getting to know each other and working together. But none of us have any interest in participating in filming a reality show.” “We also know that when you exclude individuals who are part of our organization, you exclude the organization and the entire organization. NGA will not participate in anything to which all governors are not invited.”
NGA announced this week that all governors were invited to a White House policy meeting that also served as breakfast, with the association once again hosting the event. But Moore suggested in an interview that this is not the case.
“The NGA breakfast won’t happen unless all the governors are invited. It’s just the president deciding who he wants to invite, and the president can invite whoever he wants, but it’s not a National Governors Association event,” Moore said.
A spokesperson for Polis referred questions on the matter to the White House. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
