Overview
- President Donald Trump excluded Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis from the White House governors breakfast on Friday and the traditional dinner on Saturday.
- The National Governors Association pulled out of facilitating the White House sessions, citing its obligation to represent all governors and declining to endorse events that are not fully inclusive.
- NGA chair and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said he will attend both gatherings but emphasized they are not NGA events, after Trump attacked him online and called him a “RINO.”
- At least 18 Democratic governors announced they will boycott the Saturday dinner, several also said they would skip Friday’s breakfast, and Vermont’s Republican Gov. Phil Scott said he would not attend the dinner.
- Moore and Polis, the NGA vice chair and immediate past chair, said they were not invited; Trump cited disputes over Maryland infrastructure and a Colorado election case, which the governors and their allies criticized as politicizing a bipartisan tradition.