Later this month, President Donald Trump is internet hosting an annual assembly with governors on the White Home, however he won’t invite any Democrats, solely Republicans, breaking a long-standing custom.
The assembly, a part of the Nationwide Governors Affiliation winter gathering, will solely embrace Republican governors, a spokesperson for the group confirmed to ABC Information.
“The bipartisan White Home governors assembly is a crucial custom, and we’re disenchanted within the administration’s choice to make it a partisan event this yr. To disinvite particular person governors to the White Home periods undermines an vital alternative for federal-state collaboration,” Brandon Tatum, appearing Govt Director and CEO of the Nationwide Governors Affiliation, mentioned in an announcement to ABC Information.
Trump remains to be planning to carry a separate, bipartisan dinner for governors and their spouses on the White Home as a part of the NGA actions. However Trump didn’t give invitations to 2 Democrats: Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.
President Donald Trump waves to the media as he walks on the South Garden upon his arrival to the White Home, Feb. 9, 2026, in Washington.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
It’s unclear why Trump didn’t invite Polis and Moore to the dinner. Moore also serves because the vice chair of the NGA.
“This can be a disappointing choice for a historically bipartisan occasion between Governors and whomever occupies the White Home,” Ally Sullivan, a spokesperson for Polis, mentioned to ABC Information in an announcement. A supply near Polis mentioned the governor was not given a motive for not being invited.
Over the previous few months, Trump has put stress on Polis to release Tina Peters from prison following her receiving a presidential pardon. Peters was convicted on state expenses for a scheme to tamper with voting techniques pushed by false claims concerning the 2020 election. Trump’s pardon energy doesn’t prolong to state crimes.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks throughout a press convention asserting the Safety from Predatory Pricing Act, in Severna Park, Md., Jan. 20, 2026.
Stephanie Scarbrough/AP
Moore was additionally not knowledgeable why he was not invited to the annual dinner and blasted Trump in an announcement launched on Sunday, showing to counsel his race was an element.
“My friends, each Democrats and Republicans, chosen me to function the Vice Chair of the NGA, another excuse why it’s laborious to not see this choice as one other instance of blatant disrespect and a snub to the spirit of bipartisan federal-state partnership,” Moore mentioned.
“Because the nation’s solely Black governor, I can’t ignore that being singled out for exclusion from this bipartisan custom carries an added weight — whether or not that was the intent or not,” he continued.
ABC Information has requested remark from the White Home relating to Moore’s remarks.
Moore mentioned to CNN on Sunday that he has acquired a dedication from the bipartisan Nationwide Governors Affiliation that it’ll not acknowledge the dinner as an official NGA occasion.
In an announcement to ABC Information, White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the president’s choice to exclude Democratic governors from the annual NGA assembly on the White Home, including that Trump did invite them to the dinner.
“These are White Home occasions and the President can invite whomever he needs. With that being mentioned, the White Home has been coordinating conferences with the President, cupboard secretaries, and Democrat governors for greater than every week,” Leavitt mentioned in her assertion. “Democrats have been invited to the dinner on the White Home. This can be a non-story.”
Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, in an look on ABC’s “The View” on Monday, slammed Trump’s choice to solely invite Republicans to the annual assembly with governors on the White Home and exclude Moore and Polis from the bipartisan dinner. Beshear additionally mentioned he wouldn’t be attending the bipartisan dinner.
“No, I ain’t going,” Beshear mentioned. “Wes is a pal of mine. Even when he wasn’t a pal of mine, this is able to be unsuitable — and Jared as effectively — however the different factor that is occurring is that they did not invite any Democratic governor to the enterprise part.”
