The National Governors Association's annual meeting in Washington (Feb. 19-21) traditionally includes a bipartisan White House business meeting and dinner. On Feb. 5, the White House informed the NGA that only Republican governors would be invited to the business meeting. The NGA removed the meeting from its official schedule because its mission is to represent all 55 governors. On Feb. 7, the NGA told Democratic governors Wes Moore (Maryland) and Jared Polis (Colorado) they would not receive invitations to the separate White House dinner either.
After NGA chair Kevin Stitt (R-OK) sent a letter to governors on Monday explaining the exclusions, more than a dozen Democratic governors announced they would boycott all White House events in solidarity. On Wednesday, Stitt informed governors that Trump would invite all members to the business meeting, calling it a "misunderstanding in scheduling." Hours later, Trump posted on Truth Social that he invited all governors "other than two, who I feel are not worthy" — Moore and Polis — and attacked Stitt as a "RINO" for misrepresenting his position. Trump cited Polis's refusal to release convicted election clerk Tina Peters from state prison and accused Moore of misrepresenting his military record, mishandling Baltimore crime, and failing on the Key Bridge rebuild. Democratic governors began receiving invitations to the business meeting Wednesday evening, though the dinner invitation status remained unclear.
