White House dinner closes a turbulent week for governors in Washington

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The annual dinner with governors at the White House is typically a chance for leaders from both parties to come together, socialize and spend a low-key evening with the president. But like many traditions during President Donald Trump's second term, Saturday's dinner has proven unusually controversial.

Ahead of this week's gathering of the National Governors Association, Trump ridiculed the bipartisan group's leadership, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma and Democratic Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland. He refused to invite Moore, along with Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, to a working event at the White House on Friday — only to relent at the last minute.

Even then, the event was cut short when Trump learned of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down his sweeping tariff policy, leaving even some Republicans frustrated by the week's turbulence.

“It was unfortunate that the Supreme Court came out with a bad ruling at that time,” said Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican and top Trump ally.

Dozens of Democrats had threatened to boycott the dinner if members of their party were blocked from the working meeting. But even after Moore's attendance, some said they still wouldn't show up on Saturday.

“President Trump has made this whole thing a farce,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said in a statement explaining her decision to skip the dinner.

Some Democrats plan to attend an alternative event in downtown Washington, according to someone with direct knowledge of the plans who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly.

Those who have attended previous dinners said they offered a rare and helpful opportunity for governors to connect with the president and members of his Cabinet away from the pressure of daily governing. Some also said the dinner was a chance to connect with fellow governors from other parties whom they might not see very often.

Asa Hutchinson, the former Republican governor of Arkansas who briefly challenged Trump for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, recalled being assigned to a table one year with then-Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo and getting to know her family.

“It’s a glowing evening in the White House,” Hutchinson, who once chaired the NGA, said in an interview.

The final day of the conference on Saturday focused on issues including affordability and political civility. During a conversation about immigration, Moore and Stitt said that both parties have failed over decades to address the issue.

Stitt said that states should be empowered to issue workforce permits and warned that both parties are making false political assumptions.

“People think ‘OK, all the Democrats want open borders,’” he said, “and ‘all Republicans hate immigrants.’”

But Stitt noted that “rural Oklahoma Trump voters” have privately approached him, saying they couldn't operate their businesses without people who were trying to obtain work authorization.

For all the turmoil surrounding this week's meeting, Moore said the conference was a success.

“There were a lot of forces over the process of these past weeks that were intended and hellbent on breaking us up,” he said. “Despite everything that we have seen and heard and all the booby traps that were laid out that had an intention of blowing this up, … we're standing here at the end of this conference stronger than ever.”