President Trump said Wednesday that nearly all governors are welcome at the White House for a formal meeting and dinner next week, though the Democratic governors of Maryland and Colorado are still being excluded.
The White House was initially going to exclude Democratic governors from a formal, typically bipartisan business meeting on Feb. 20 during the annual National Governors Association (NGA) conference, according to the NGA and a source familiar with the White House’s planning.
And two Democratic governors, Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado, said they were informed by the NGA last Friday they would not be invited to a separate dinner at the White House on Feb. 21 with the president, the governors and their spouses.
But after talks between the White House and Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican who chairs the NGA, the organization and the president said Wednesday that governors from both parties are welcome to both the meeting and the dinner. Democratic governors began receiving invitations on Wednesday evening to the business meeting, though the NGA did not receive updates about the White House dinner.
Gov. Stitt informed governors of all 55 states and territories on Wednesday that all are invited to the formal meeting on Feb. 20.
“He was very clear in his communications with me that this is a National Governors Association’s event, and he looks forward to hosting you and hearing from governors across the country. President Trump said this was always his intention, and we have addressed the misunderstanding in scheduling,” Stitt wrote in a message to governors obtained by CBS News.
In a Wednesday afternoon Truth Social post after Stitt’s message was sent, Mr. Trump wrote that Moore and Polis are still excluded. He suggested there was a misunderstanding between him and Stitt.
“The invitations were sent to ALL Governors, other than two, who I feel are not worthy of being there,” Trump wrote, adding that he “even invited” two of his political foes, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. “So, as usual with him, Stitt got it WRONG! The Invitations were sent out to all other Governors, Democrat and Republican.”
Moore still received an invite on Wednesday to the formal meeting, according to a source familiar with the matter.
It is unclear if Polis received an invitation to that meeting as well. A spokesperson for the Colorado governor said “no matter what events Colorado is or isn’t invited to, Governor Polis will continue to focus on working with his fellow governors and anyone who wants to help make people’s lives better.” CBS News has reached out to the White House.
The NGA said it was informed by the White House on Feb. 5 that only Republican governors would be invited to the formal business meeting. Because of these exclusions, the NGA said the following day that it would not facilitate that meeting or put it on the group’s official schedule. Stitt reiterated that in a letter to governors on Monday, and defended Moore as “an exceptional vice chair” for the NGA.
After reports of Democratic governors being excluded from the meeting, nearly every Democratic governor put out a joint statement Tuesday that indicated they wouldn’t attend any White House events, including the dinner, out of solidarity with Moore and Polis.
In his Wednesday post, Mr. Trump cited a disagreement over the imprisonment of former Colorado county election clerk Tina Peters as the reason for not inviting Polis. The president has pushed Polis for months to grant clemency to Peters, who is serving a nine-year sentence on multiple state charges related to unauthorized access to voting machines.
And Mr. Trump called Moore “foul mouthed” and claimed he had embellished receiving military medals, though Moore has said it was an “honest mistake” on a White House fellowship application in 2006. He has since received a Bronze Star for his deployment to Afghanistan.
The president also criticized Stitt, calling him a “RINO,” or Republican in name only. Stitt had backed Mr. Trump’s former opponent, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, during the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.
Moore called the decision not to invite him “another example of blatant disrespect and a snub to the spirit of bipartisan federal-state partnership” in a statement earlier this week.
A Polis spokesperson called it a “disappointing decision for a traditionally bipartisan event between Governors and whomever occupies the White House.”
Governors from both parties attended a White House meeting and dinner during last year’s conference. The meeting drew attention for a verbal scuffle between Mr. Trump and Maine Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, in which the president pressed Mills on the issue of transgender women in sports, and Mills responded: “We’ll see you in court.”
