Trump excludes Democratic governors from White House NGA meeting
Democratic governors have been excluded from a White House meeting held in connection with the National Governors Association’s winter gathering, after President Donald Trump limited participation to Republicans, departing from the event’s traditional bipartisan format, Qazinform News Agency correspondent reports.
Governors from across the United States are scheduled to gather in Washington later this month for the National Governors Association’s winter meeting, which includes events hosted at the White House. According to the National Governors Association, Democratic governors were not invited to one of those White House events this year.
That event is a policy-focused meeting between the president and governors, typically seen as a forum for discussing federal-state cooperation. The association said only Republican governors were invited to participate, marking a departure from past bipartisan practice.
Separately, the White House is planning to host a dinner for governors and their spouses during the NGA gathering. While the administration described the dinner as bipartisan, two Democratic governors - Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado - were not invited to either the policy meeting or the dinner. Moore currently serves as vice chair of the NGA.
Both governors said they were not given an explanation for their exclusion. In a statement, Moore criticized the decision and pointed to its broader implications. “As the nation’s only Black governor, I can’t ignore that being singled out for exclusion from this bipartisan tradition carries an added weight - whether that was the intent or not,” he said, adding that governors from both parties had selected him for leadership within the association.
A spokesperson for Polis said the governor was also not told why he was excluded. His absence follows recent public pressure from Trump related to Tina Peters, who was convicted on state charges for election system tampering. Presidential pardons do not apply to state-level convictions.
The White House defended the invitation decisions. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president has discretion over White House events and emphasized that Democratic governors were invited to the dinner. She also said the administration has held separate meetings with Democratic governors in recent weeks.
The exclusions prompted criticism from other Democratic leaders. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said he would not attend the dinner, arguing that excluding Democrats from the policy meeting undermined the purpose of federal-state engagement. Moore later said the NGA would not recognize the dinner as an official association event.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Donald Trump said he would block the opening of a new U.S. - Canada border bridge unless Washington receives what he called fair compensation and respect from Ottawa.
