Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) was quietly cut from a high-profile National Governors Association dinner at the White House, and organizers still will not say why.
“This week, I learned that I was uninvited to this year’s National Governors Association dinner, a decades-long annual tradition meant to bring governors from both parties together,” Moore wrote on social media, calling the move “another example of blatant disrespect.”
The unexplained dis-invite landed just hours after Republican President Donald Trump posted a racist video on Truth Social depicting former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as apes. The video sparked swift backlash before it was removed. Moore, like the Obamas, is Black, and he is currently serving as vice chair of the National Governors Association.
The dinner is traditionally organized as part of the NGA’s annual winter meeting, with coordination between the association and the White House. The NGA is currently led by interim CEO Brandon Tatum, who said the decision to exclude individual governors came from the administration, not the organization.
“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,” Tatum said in a statement. “To disinvite individual governors to the White House sessions undermines an important opportunity for federal-state collaboration.”
Moore is the nation’s only sitting Black governor and only the third Black governor ever elected. He said the exclusion carries weight even if no explanation has been offered.
“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 wrote.
White House officials defended the guest list, saying attendance at presidential events is discretionary.
“Many Democrats were invited to dinner at the White House, and others were not,” a White House official said. “These are White House events, and the President reserves the right to invite whomever he wants.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) was also excluded from the dinner. Both Moore and Polis were not given a reason for their removal, according to multiple reports. Other Democratic governors who have publicly clashed with Trump were invited.
The National Governors Association later confirmed it will not recognize the dinner as an official NGA event.
“If the president wants to have a dinner with his friends, that is perfectly fine,” Moore said. “It will not be an NGA event.”