Trump Shuts Democratic Governors Out of Annual White House Meeting: Report

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

President Donald Trump is set to break a longstanding tradition as he snubbed Democratic governors from an annual White House meeting with governors later this month.

The session, held alongside the National Governors Association’s winter gathering, will exclude every Democratic governor, a spokesperson for the NGA told ABC News.

“The bipartisan White House governors meeting is an important tradition, and we are disappointed in the administration’s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year. To disinvite individual governors to the White House sessions undermines an important opportunity for federal-state collaboration,” said Brandon Tatum, the NGA’s acting executive director.

The White House countered, arguing Democrats remain invited to a separate dinner for governors and their spouses, but even that gesture excludes two notable Democratic governors – Maryland’s Wes Moore and Colorado’s Jared Polis. No explanation was given.

“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 protested. “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.”

“This is a disappointing decision for a traditionally bipartisan event between Governors and whomever occupies the White House,” Ally Sullivan, a Polis spokeswoman, told the network.

The exclusion of Polis follows months of feuding from Trump over the imprisonment of Tina Peters, a former county clerk convicted of tampering with voting systems in a state case beyond the president’s pardon power.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed the backlash: “These are White House events and the President can invite whomever he wants. With that being said, the White House has been coordinating meetings with the President, cabinet secretaries, and Democrat governors for more than a week. Democrats were invited to the dinner at the White House. This is a non-story.”

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