Moore changes tone after encounter with Trump

A meeting last week between President Donald Trump and governors from around the country left Gov. Wes Moore (D) “disheartened.” (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore appears to have dismissed any possibility of working with President Donald Trump after a meeting at the White House with the National Governors Association.

In a meeting with reporters Monday, Moore said an interaction between Trump and the roughly four dozen governors in attendance ended any thoughts he may have harbored about working with the president. The first-term Democrat said Maryland and other states must rise to the threat of massive layoffs and slash-and-burn federal budgeting coming from the administration.

“I come back from Washington with no illusion about what kind of partnership that this administration is trying to forge with our nation’s governors,” Moore told reporters, “and … with a clear understanding that that if this first month is any indication of where things are going, we as lawmakers had better take this moment seriously and make sure that we’re moving forward.”

Moore said he believes that Trump’s efforts over the last month are just the beginning, noting that we are “18 days away from a government shutdown — a full federal government shutdown that this administration seems to not only be fine with, but actually seems to relish in its prospects.”

“This is going to have a massive impact on our state, massive impacts on our budgets, massive impacts on our well-being,” he said. “I have come back more determined than ever to say that it’s time for all of us to take this moment seriously. It’s time for all of us as lawmakers to be able to understand the crisis that is at hand.”

Moore said he intends to challenge Trump using his own executive orders and authority, as well as continuing to work with Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown, who has joined a number of lawsuits with other states aimed at blocking Trump initiatives.

Monday’s comments represent a change in direction for Moore, who signaled a willingness in November to “find common ground” with Trump where he could, but to push back when needed.

Earlier this month, Moore used his State of the State address to criticize Trump’s budget and workforce cuts as “chaos.”

By Monday, Moore was using words like “crisis” and “disheartening” and “arbitrary” to describe the encounter with Trump during the governors association meeting.

Trump last week named Moore to a bipartisan group of 10 governors tasked with strengthening state-federal relationships related to security, disaster response and military coordination.

“It was really good to be able to have a chance to express with the Cabinet secretaries … the things we want to be able to prioritize and focus on in our individual states,” Moore said. “Where the meeting went off the rails was when the president of the United States walked in. That’s when you just realized that this was not going to be a substantive conversation. This was going to be an hour-long diatribe of conspiracy theories and attacks on my colleagues. And that’s when you realize that it was when the president of the United States walked into the room that things went off the rails.”

During that meeting, Trump engaged in a tense public exchange with Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D). Trump threatened to strip her state of federal funding if Mills refused to comply with his executive order banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports.

“See you in court,” Mills fired back.

Moore said Trump missed an opportunity to build a working relationship with governors from around the country.

“This was the first time that the new president had a chance to be around … us and hopefully build that type of relationship,” said Moore.” I think for all of us, we were not just deeply underwhelmed, but I think we were troubled.”

Moore described Trump’s remarks to the governors as a “diatribe” chockablock with “conspiracy theories.”

“I heard grievances — personal grievances. I heard a person stand there and say that I won the election. I’m now a three-time elected president of the United States,” Moore said. “That’s not helping anybody. It’s definitely not helping any Maryland families right now.”

Moore said he was more concerned with what Trump did not address.

“I didn’t hear anything about what is being done to be able to address the rising cost of goods,” Moore said. “I didn’t hear anything about what we’re going to do to give middle class families…tax relief. And I didn’t hear anything about we’re going to increase housing inventory. I didn’t hear anything about what we’re going to do to address the cost of prescription drugs.”

Republicans in the State House said Moore has much to lose by picking a fight with Trump in public.

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Stephen S. Hershey Jr. (R-Upper Shore) said Moore’s comments add fuel to a fire started by Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s decision to maintain the city’s policies on immigrants and the attorney general’s involvement in numerous lawsuits against the Trump administration.

Moore ramping up his public criticism is akin to biting the hand that feeds you, Hershey said. Maryland is not only home to 160,000 federal employees, but Moore also is seeking federal funding to replace the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the state is looking to nail down a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt.

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Meanwhile at home, Moore is contenting with a supermajority Democratic legislature that is balking at some of his initiatives this session. The state faces at least a $3 billion shortfall in the fiscal 2026 budget, that Moore has proposed addressing with a spending plan that includes tax reform as well delay in the implementation of portions of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reforms.

Lawmakers in the House have called the delays a nonstarter. Leaders in the Senate are eyeing changes to Moore’s tax proposal. Both sides want to restore some cuts the governor made in his proposed budget.

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