WASHINGTON (AP) — An annual meeting of the nation’s governors that has long served as a rare bipartisan gathering is unraveling after President Donald Trump excluded Democratic governors from White House events.
The National Governors Association said it will no longer hold a formal meeting with Trump when governors are scheduled to convene in Washington later this month, after the White House planned to invite only Republican governors. On Tuesday, 18 Democratic governors also announced they would boycott a traditional dinner at the White House.
“If the reports are true that not all governors are invited to these events, which have historically been productive and bipartisan opportunities for collaboration, we will not be attending the White House dinner this year,” the group wrote. “Democratic governors remain united and will never stop fighting to protect and make life better for people in our states.”
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican and the chairman of the NGA, said in a letter Monday to fellow governors obtained by The Associated Press that the White House intends to limit invitations to the association’s annual business meeting, scheduled for February 20, to Republican governors only.
“Because NGA’s mission is to represent all 55 governors, the Association is no longer serving as the facilitator for that event, and it is no longer included in our official program,” Stitt wrote.
The NGA is scheduled to meet in Washington from Feb. 19-21. Representatives for Stitt, the White House and the NGA didn’t immediately comment on the letter.
The annual dinner is a long-standing tradition meant to foster unity among the nation’s governors and the president of the United States. This year, however, Trump adjusted the guest list for the event. Democratic governors were excluded from the business meeting, and two of those governors — Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis — were not invited to the dinner.
Moore said in a news release Sunday that he learned earlier this week that he was uninvited from the dinner. Moore was elected to serve as the association’s vice chair in July, which he said is another reason it is “hard not to see this decision as another example of blatant disrespect” and a snub to the spirit of bipartisan federal-state partnership.
Moore expanded on his remarks during an interview on CNN Sunday morning, saying the exclusion of Democratic governors from traditionally bipartisan events fits into a larger pattern he sees from the Trump administration.
“It’s not just the policies that we have continued to see. We are watching a president who is just unchecked,” Moore said. “And so what we need to do right now in this moment, it is important that people come out and vote in November and make their voices heard.”
Asked about the National Governors Association dinner specifically, Moore said the organization would not support the event if it remained partisan.
“If the president wants to have a dinner with his friends and have a black-tie dinner with his friends on that night, that is perfectly fine,” Moore said. “It will not be an NGA event.”
Brandon Tatum, the NGA’s CEO, said in a statement last week that the White House meeting is an “important tradition” and said the organization was “disappointed in the administration’s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year.”
The governors group is one of the few remaining venues where political leaders from both major parties gather to discuss the top issues facing their communities. In his letter, Stitt encouraged governors to unite around common goals.
“We cannot allow one divisive action to achieve its goal of dividing us,” he wrote. “The solution is not to respond in kind, but to rise above and to remain focused on our shared duty to the people we serve. America’s governors have always been models of pragmatic leadership, and that example is most important when Washington grows distracted by politics.”
Signs of partisan tensions emerged at the White House meeting last year, when Trump and Maine’s Gov. Janet Mills traded barbs.
