Trump says governors from both parties are invited to White House, except 2 Democrats

President Trump said Wednesday that almost all governors are welcome to the White House for a formal meeting and dinner next week, although the Democratic governors of Maryland and Colorado are still excluded.

The White House was will initially exclude Democratic governors participated in a formal, generally bipartisan business meeting on Feb. 20 at the National Governors Association (NGA) annual conference, according to the NGA and a source familiar with White House planning.

And two Democratic governors, Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado, said they were informed by the NGA last Friday that they would not be invited to a separate White House dinner on Feb. 21 with the president, governors and their spouses.

But after discussions 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 were welcome at the meeting and dinner. Democratic governors began receiving invitations Wednesday evening to the business meeting, although the NGA was not notified of the White House dinner.

Governor Stitt informed the governors of all 55 states and territories on Wednesday that all were invited to the formal meeting on February 20.

“He has been very clear in his communications with me that this is a National Governors Association event, and he looks forward to welcoming you and hearing from governors from across the country. President Trump has said that has always been his intention, and we have resolved the misunderstanding in the scheduling,” Stitt wrote in a message to governors obtained by CBS News.

In an article published Wednesday afternoon on Truth Social after Stitt’s message was sent, Mr. Trump wrote that Moore and Polis were still excluded. He suggested there was a misunderstanding between him and Stitt.

“Invitations have been sent to ALL governors except two who I believe do not deserve to be there,” Trump wrote, adding that he “even invited” two of his political enemies, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom. “So, as usual with him, Stitt was wrong! The invitations were sent to all the other governors, Democrats and Republicans.”

Moore still received an invitation Wednesday to the formal meeting, according to a source familiar with the matter.

It is unclear whether Polis also received an invitation to this meeting. A spokesperson for Colorado’s governor said that “regardless of what events Colorado is or is not invited to, Governor Polis will continue to focus on working with his fellow governors and all those who want to help improve people’s lives.” CBS News has contacted the White House.

The NGA said it was informed by the White House on February 5 that only Republican governors would be invited to the formal business meeting. Because of these exclusions, the NGA said the next day that it would not facilitate the meeting or include it in the group’s official agenda. Stitt reiterated that in a letter to governors Monday and defended Moore as “an outstanding vice president” for the NGA.

After reports that Democratic governors were excluded from the meeting, nearly all Democratic governors issued a joint statement Tuesday saying they would not attend any White House events, including the dinner, in solidarity with Moore and Polis.

In his message on Wednesday, Mr. Trump cited a disagreement over the imprisonment of former Colorado County Election Clerk Tina Peters as a reason for not inviting Polis. The president pushed Polis for months to grant clemency to Peters, who is serving a nine-year sentence on several state charges related to unauthorized access to voting machines.

And Mr. Trump called Moore “rude” and claimed he had embellished receiving military medals, although Moore said it was a “honest mistake” on a White House scholarship 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 supported Mr. Trump’s former opponent, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, in the 2024 Republican presidential primaries.

Moore called the decision not to invite him “another example of blatant disrespect and snub to the spirit of bipartisan federal-state partnership” in a statement. statement earlier this week.

A spokesperson for Polis called the move “a disappointing decision for a traditionally bipartisan event between governors and whoever occupies the White House.”

Governors from both parties attended a meeting and dinner at the White House during last year’s conference. The meeting drew attention to a verbal brawl between Mr. Trump and Maine’s Democratic governor, 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.”

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