Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore says the White House singled him out by excluding him from a couple of bipartisan events for the nation’s governors later this month.

The National Governors Association will be in Washington, D.C. for its annual meeting and dinner with the president from Feb. 19 to Feb. 21. According to Politico, and other reports, all Democratic governors have been disinvited from the meeting. Moore said the president is also excluding him from a separate dinner for governors and their spouses, along with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.   

The long-standing tradition is an opportunity for state and federal governments to engage in person on pressing issues across the nation.

Moore is the vice chair of the National Governors Association (NGA).

“My peers, both Democrats and Republicans, selected me to serve as the Vice Chair of the NGA, another reason why 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 stated. “As the nation’s only Black governor, I can’t ignore that being singled out for exclusion from this bipartisan tradition carries an added weight, whether that was the intent or not.”

Moore asked why he was excluded

Moore was asked on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday if he knew why he was being excluded from the events.

Moore said he led a group of Democratic and Republican governors in a productive meeting last week at the White House over efforts to bring down energy costs, which is why his exclusion from the NGA events is puzzling.

“I’ve long-learned that I am trying not to get inside of the president’s psyche,” Moore said. “It’s not a good use of my time. it is  not lost on my that I am the only Black governor, 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 have my peers asked me to lead. but also a place I know I belong in.”

According to Politico, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement: “These are White House events and the president can invite whomever he wants.”

Not an official NGA event?

According to Moore, there is a commitment from the NGA that the events at the White House will not be official NGA gatherings.

“If the president wants to have a black-tie dinner with his friends on that night, that is fine, it will not be an NGA event,” Moore said. “This is a bipartisan organization where Democratic and Republican governors come together to work on addressing the needs of our people.

Moore added, “We know that in this time, the president cannot use this time to divide our organization.”

Politico obtained an email from the NGA confirming that the White House meeting will no longer be an association event.

“No NGA resources will be used to support transportation for this activity,” the email read.

Moore, Trump at odds

Gov. Moore and President Trump have had public spats, including over Baltimore’s crime and funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which collapsed in 2024.

“I promised the people of my state I will work with anybody but will bow down to nobody,” Moore said. “And I guess the President doesn’t like that.”

In August 2025, Mr. Trump threatened to deploy the National Guard to Baltimore to combat crime, which garnered pushback from city and state leaders.

At the time, Mr. Trump called Baltimore a “hellhole.”

“Chicago is a hellhole right now, Baltimore is a hellhole right now,” Mr. Trump said. “We have a right to do it because I have an obligation to do it to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore.”

The president also said that Baltimore was “so far gone.”

The White House at the time also shared an article by U.S. News and World Report that ranked Baltimore as the fourth most dangerous city in the country, behind St. Louis, Oakland, and Memphis.

Moore invited the president to Baltimore for a public safety walk on a day and time of his choosing.

The president responded by telling Moore to “clean up this crime disaster” before he considers coming to Baltimore.

“As he stated in his letter, the Governor welcomes a conversation about public safety that builds upon the progress of our current strategy, which has reduced violence and brought homicides in Baltimore to levels not seen in 50 years,” the governor’s office stated. “We know there is more work to be done, and are committed to doing it.”

The president posted on the social media platform Truth Social that Baltimore is “out of control” and “crime-ridden.”

“Stop talking and get to work, Wes,” Mr. Trump wrote. “I’ll then see you on the streets!!!”

Last August, during the back-and-forth, Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social, “I gave Wes Moore a lot of money to fix his demolished bridge. I will now have to rethink that decision???”

The next day, when a Forbes reporter asked Mr. Trump if his reconsideration of Key Bridge funding was contingent on Moore “cleaning up the streets,” the president said, “No, we were very generous to him on a bridge, you know, a boat ran into a bridge and the bridge came down like I’ve never seen.”  

In gambling parlance, when someone wins a lot, they are said to be on a heater. For Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, he’s been on an extended heater picking NFL and College Football Playoff games for WTOP the last several weeks.

Moore has missed only two games total, an achievement for anyone, much less a non-professional prognosticator.

So, is it luck or skill? For the governor, it’s a bit of both.

“Anyone who says it is all skill, is not telling the truth,” Moore told WTOP Friday. “Anyone who says it’s all luck is not telling the truth. It’s a combination of both.”

What’s the secret sauce?

“I study this stuff. I follow this stuff,” Moore said. “Who’s hot and who’s healthy and you always look at things like injury reports. …There are definitely analytics that I will put into it.”

“I always bet on gamers when it comes to playoff time and I think that’s worked pretty well,” he added.

Breaking down the big game

The attention this weekend turns to Sunday’s Super Bowl game, which pits the Seattle Seahawks against the New England Patriots in Santa Clara, California.

Weighing into the last NFL game of the season, Moore said he found the Patriots to “maybe be the most interesting story” in the league, before noting the team hasn’t exactly “played the same level of competition during the year that Seattle has had to play.”

“I thought the Super Bowl champion was going to run through the NFC,” Moore said. “I just thought the NFC was producing better teams.”

The governor does believe the Seahawks defense team will be the difference in this game, explaining that the Patriots “are running into a buzz saw, and I think that buzz saw is the Seattle Seahawks.”

“This defense is so creative and so good,” Moore said. “Huge credit goes to their head coach.”

Mike Macdonald served as the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens between 2022 and 2023 after serving several season on the team’s defense staff. He was announced as the new head coach for the Seattle Seahawks in January 2024.

“We got a chance to see him up close, just how good he is,” Moore said of Macdonald’s time with the Ravens. “And if you watched how Baltimore’s defense fell off when he went to Seattle, that wasn’t because of a talent issue. That was because of a defensive coordinator issue.”

Seattle quarterback Sam Darnold, who is playing for his fifth team in the last six years, is also quieting his doubters with his second-straight stellar season. “Darnold is doing his job and Darnold, you know, has a real chip on his shoulder,” Moore said.

Seattle is favored by oddsmakers by around four and a half points. But, the governor said, “I think it’s probably going to be closer to 10 … I don’t think this game is going to be close.”

Moore’s Super Bowl spread

With his big prediction out of the way, the governor addressed more important matters, like the menu for his Super Bowl party.

“We’re Marylanders,” he said. “We’re going to be traditionalists.”

“So we’re going to have some crab cakes. We’ll have the chicken wings and all that kind of stuff for everybody else, but, make no mistake … the real MVP is going to be some crab cakes.”

And, yes, the Old Line State’s favorite seasoning will be involved. “Old Bay everything,” Moore said.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.