Cox, other governors address disagreement with Trump ahead of governors event

WASHINGTON — After President Donald Trump said two Democratic governors were not welcome at the White House during the annual governors meeting in the nation's capital, National Governors Association chair Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican from Oklahoma, sat down with one of the disinvited governors, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, at an event Wednesday evening.

Moore and Stitt were joined by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox at an "America 250 Forum," sponsored by Pew Charitable Trusts and Disagree Better.

Stitt addressed the controversy up front, saying Trump was initially confused and said the governors were not invited to a dinner at the White House, but the event in question was actually a business meeting meant to be held Friday.

At first Trump said he was only going to include Republican governors for the gathering, but in a post online last week, Trump said invitations went to "ALL governors" except Moore and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis because he didn't feel they were "worthy of being there."

The National Governors Association canceled the White House business meeting as of Feb. 11, since all governors were not invited.

Stitt said Trump could invite whomever he wanted to the dinner, which will still take place, but as many as 18 governors have said they won't attend in solidarity with the two who were disinvited.

Stitt and Cox did not say Wednesday if they would attend the White House dinner, although Stitt has come under fire by Trump in recent social media posts.

Stitt, and the other two governors, focused on unity and civility at Wednesday night's event.

"So, the NGA is bigger than one meeting. It's bigger than one dinner at the White House," Stitt said.

He later added, "The NGA stands together with all governors, and so we're not going to facilitate something that doesn't include everybody."

Moore said Wednesday that it was an "unfortunate turn of circumstances" because governors for decades have been invited no matter who was in control of the White House. He argued that it's "just amongst many other traditions" broken by the Trump administration.

The Maryland governor said regardless of whether he receives an invitation to the gathering, the governors intend to have a very productive and collaborative few days in Washington.

"We're going to debate our ideas, we're going to coordinate, we're going to find places where we're seeing best practices all across the country, we're going to model them and adopt them and steal them and bring them for our states," Moore said. "And there is no person, nor one office, nor one administration that is going to disrupt that because governors are just built different."

Stitt said the annual gathering and events like Wednesday evening's discussion are important because Americans like to see Republican and Democratic leaders from different states getting along. Those elected officials likely agree on about "80% of the things, and we can have the things we disagree on," he said.

Cox agreed about the role of the National Governors Association, saying "Whatever happens this weekend, this institution is bigger than the three of us. It's bigger than any one person, and our job is to make sure that it outlives us and that the next generation gets these institutions."

In addition to discussing the current disagreement with the president, the three governors called on the business and government leaders in attendance to find ways to change the incentives for service and community-level organizing in order to improve conditions in the country.

Healing America's divide: What Stitt, Cox and Moore had to say

Since Cox founded Disagree Better while serving as chair of the National Governors Association in 2023, his organization, now a nonprofit, has grown and invited more Americans to ask how they can better handle political conflict and conversation.

The discussion Wednesday, moderated by NPR's "Morning Edition" host Steve Inskeep, examined several topics, including the role of service in rebuilding American kindness, the bipartisan relationships governors have built through the National Governors Association, the Founding Fathers' vision for a divided nation and how the country can heal.

Stitt noted that the reason he and the other governors do events aligned with Disagree Better's mission is because they believe it's important for Americans to see their elected leaders getting along and discussing issues.

"When you actually meet someone, you break bread with them, you get to know their families, you know that they care about their states, they care about these issues," he said. "We're Americans first and I just think that's so, so important."

Stitt noted that through the National Governors Association, he's been able to connect with Democratic governors from the Northeast and collaborate on projects together that have improved both of their states. Platforms like the Disagree Better event give him an opportunity to show the "behind the scenes" work, he said.

The Oklahoma governor observed that current American political leaders have swung back and forth on policies like a pendulum, bringing Americans with them. Former President Barack Obama killed a previously passed Republican initiative, Trump brought it back during his first term, just for former President Joe Biden to trash it and for Trump to bring it back again during his second term, he said.

Read the full story at Deseret News.

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