President Donald Trump has made a habit of using the power of the White House to redraw norms on his own terms, and the fallout is sharpest when those moves double as personal score-settling.
Later this month, a long-standing governors’ dinner that once signaled bipartisan truce quietly became something else entirely — a reminder that under Trump, access is conditional, grudges travel fast, and even ritual courtesies can be pulled without warning.
Trump will meet only with Republican governors during the National Governors Association’s annual summit later this month, the organization confirmed, scrapping a long-standing tradition of bipartisan White House sessions.
In the same move, the president personally revoked invitations already sent to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, the NGA’s vice chair.
The decision to pull Moore’s invitation from a black-tie White House dinner quickly turned into a public confrontation. Moore pushed back forcefully, defending his right to be in the room while sidestepping repeated attempts — particularly on CNN — to bait him into escalating the fight beyond what Trump’s move already exposed.
“This week, I learned that I was uninvited to this year’s National Governors Association dinner … It’s hard not to see this decision as another example of blatant disrespect and a snub to the spirit of bipartisan federal-state partnership,” Moore said in a statement,
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Moore told host Dana Bash the decision was especially baffling given that just weeks earlier he led a bipartisan group of governors to the White House as Trump signed a memorandum aimed at lowering energy costs. Moore said it was “particularly confusing” to be excluded now, despite his leadership role within the NGA.
“From your perspective why are you being excluded from this dinner,” Bash asked.
Moore prefaced his answer by acknowledging that he’s “long learned that I’m not trying to get inside of the President’s psyche. It’s not a good use of my time.”
Then immediately added, “It’s not lost on me that I’m the only Black governor in this country, and I find that to be particularly painful, considering the fact that the president is trying to exclude me from an organization that not only my peers have asked me to help to lead, but then also a place where I know I belong in.”
He went further, framing the moment as something larger than a single dinner invitation.
“I’m never in a room because of someone’s benevolence nor kindness. I’m not in a room because of a social experiment. I’m in the room because I belong there.”
But Bash wasn’t satisfied and pressed Moore on whether he believed race was the direct reason for his exclusion. Moore did not take the bait. “I can’t speak to the president’s intent. It’s not lost to me, but I can’t speak to the president’s intent,” he replied.
That exchange triggered a wave of reactions online, with critics accusing CNN of pushing Moore to hand Trump an easy talking point.
One post said, “They want him to say it’s because he’s Black so then they can call him racist and a race-baiter for stating the obvious.”
Another added, “I don’t like her asking the black man who was excluded ask WH officials.”
Others praised Moore’s restraint. “My good brother Governor was like: Dana I don’t give a F how many different ways you ask me, you and I both know why I’m excluded, but bish what you’re NOT gonna do is bait me into saying it.”
“Omgeeee!! Ol’insufferableheadazzheffa!!” one response read.
Another post amplified the broader concern: “WE NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT THIS. Donald Trump is becoming more and more bold with his blatant racism. It is LOUD and unchecked. That should alarm EVERYONE!”
Polis’ office also condemned the decision.
“Gov. Polis has always been willing to work with anyone across the political spectrum who wants to help work on the hardest problems facing Colorado and America, regardless of party or who occupies the White House,” said spokesperson Eric Maruyama.
The White House offered little explanation. “Many Democrats were invited to dinner at the White House, and others were not,” a White House official told Politico. “These are White House events and the President reserves the right to invite whomever he wants.”
Still, Moore said the NGA made clear it would not “support this dinner” as an official event.
NGA leadership echoed that stance. Brandon Tatum, the interim CEO of the organization, said the group was “disappointed in the administration’s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year,” adding Trump’s action, “undermines an important opportunity for federal-state collaboration.”
The fallout comes amid months of conflict between Trump and Democratic governors over federal immigration policies featuring heavy-handed and deadly ICE tactics, which has seen California’s Gavin Newsom and Minnesota’s Tim Walz also sparring publicly with the president.
Some critics are now calling for a broader response. “All Democratic Governors should immediately revise their RSVP to ‘will not attend.’ And even if Trump backtracks and reinvites Moore, all Democratic Governors should boycott the dinner.”
The meetings are scheduled for Feb. 19 to 21 in Washington.
Great Job A.L. Lee & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star for sharing this story.
