President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he has invited the governors from both major parties \u2014 with two notable Democratic exceptions \u2014 to a traditionally bipartisan gathering at the White House next week. <\/p>\n
An annual meeting at the White House between governors and the president \u2014 which has been slated for Feb. 20 \u2014 has in recent days emerged as a major source of conflict after National Governors Association officials said Trump was only planning to include Republican governors at the session.<\/p>\n
But in a post to Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon, Trump<\/a> said that invitations to the meeting \u201cwere sent to ALL governors\u201d except Democratic Govs. Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Invitations were sent out to all other Governors, Democrat and Republican,\u201d he wrote. Trump also lashed out at Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, the chair of the NGA, over the dispute, calling him a “RINO,” or Republican in name only. <\/p>\n In another social media post on Thursday morning<\/a>, Trump again criticized Stitt as a “wiseguy” before saying that he’d “invited, not happily, almost all Democrat Governors to the Governor\u2019s Dinner at the White House” \u2014 a separate event from the business meeting.<\/p>\n Trump’s posts conflicts with the latest information provided by the NGA, the bipartisan group of state executives whose business meeting with Trump is at the center of the controversy.<\/p>\n Shortly before Trump\u2019s post on Wednesday, NGA leaders said Stitt had spoken with the White House about the meeting between Trump and the governors and that two two had agreed that all governors, from both major parties, would attend the Feb. 20 meeting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re pleased the president will welcome governors from all 55 states and territories to the White House. The bipartisan White House governors meeting is a valued tradition and an important opportunity to build bridges and hold constructive conversations,\u201d Brandon Tatum, the CEO of the NGA said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n In an email sent Wednesday to his fellow NGA governors, Stitt wrote that Trump was \u201cinviting all governors\u201d to NGA Business Breakfast, scheduled for the morning of Feb. 20.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was very clear in his communications with me that this is a National Governors Association\u2019s event, and he looks forward to hosting you and hearing from governors across the country. President Trump said this was always his intention, and we have addressed the misunderstanding in scheduling,\u201d Stitt wrote in the Wednesday email, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News.<\/p>\n Even Moore had been invited on Wednesday afternoon, prior to Trump’s Truth Social post, to attend the business meeting, a source familiar with the situation said. The source didn\u2019t say whether Moore would attend.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Polis didn\u2019t directly respond to questions from NBC News about whether the Colorado governor had received an invitation.<\/p>\n \u201cGovernor Polis is focused on doing what\u2019s best for Colorado, and that includes working with Democrats and Republicans to tackle our greatest challenges. It\u2019s disappointing that states and the federal government working together to improve our lives has been resisted by this federal administration, but no matter what events Colorado is or isn\u2019t invited to, Governor Polis will continue to focus on working with his fellow governors and anyone who wants to help make people\u2019s lives better,\u201d the spokesperson, Shelby Wieman, wrote in a text message.<\/p>\n The fate of a traditionally bipartisan dinner also remains unclear.<\/p>\n NGA officials were informed by the White House last Thursday that only Republican governors would be invited to the Feb. 20 business meeting with Trump. NGA officials said they notified the group\u2019s governors, and their staffs, on Friday that the business meeting would be removed from the NGA\u2019s formal agenda.<\/p>\n On Monday, Stitt sent a letter to all NGA governors that explained that the NGA had been \u201cinformed that the White House intends to limit invitations to the annual business meeting, scheduled for February 20, to Republican governors only\u201d and that, due to the group\u2019s bipartisan mission, it was \u201cno longer serving as the facilitator for that event.\u201d<\/p>\n