Democratic Maryland Governor Wes Moore publicly disputed President Donald Trump’s claim that Moore had praised him as “the greatest president” of his lifetime during a face-to-face encounter last year.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that Moore approached him at an Army-Navy football game, hugged him and delivered the compliment.
Moore responded to Trump’s claim during a radio interview, calling it an “imaginary conversation” that “never happened.” The Maryland governor later also posted on X saying “lol” and “Keep telling yourself that, Mr. President.”
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email on Monday.
Why It Matters
This latest dispute is the latest escalation in Trump’s broader confrontation with Democratic governors across the country over urban crime policies and National Guard deployments.
Trump has already deployed federal forces twice during his presidency—first in Los Angeles to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportation operations and later in Washington, D.C., to crack down on what he characterized as skyrocketing crime in the nation’s capital. Both deployments have been met with significant legal and political backlash.
The president has threatened similar deployments to major Democratic-led cities including Baltimore, Chicago, New York City and Oakland. Moore’s emphatic denial comes as Trump considers withholding federal funding for Maryland’s Francis Scott Key Bridge reconstruction.
The governor directly rebuked Trump last week, writing on X that Trump should “walk our streets, stand with our people, and visit our community.”
“If you are not willing to be part of the solution, keep our names out of your mouth,” Moore said.
What To Know
Trump said on Monday that the alleged conversation occurred at a 2024 Army-Navy football game, where Moore supposedly told him he had done a “fantastic job” as president and was “the greatest president” of the governor’s lifetime.
Moore first addressed Trump’s claims during a Monday radio interview with WBAL News Radio host T.J. Smith, where he emphatically rejected the president’s account.
“I’m a person who takes my integrity very seriously, and I spent the past six months before that election campaigning as to why I did not think that he should be the next president of the United States,” Moore told WBAL Radio.
“So, when I say that conversation never happened, that imaginary conversation never happened, I mean that conversation never happened,” the governor added.
He later reposted the video of Trump’s Oval Office comments on X and replied with “lol” and “Keep telling yourself that, Mr. President.”
Moore has consistently pushed back on Trump’s characterizations, citing substantial improvements in Baltimore’s crime statistics, including a homicide rate that has dropped over 20 percent during his tenure.
What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, in part: “Governor Wes Moore of Maryland has asked, in a rather nasty and provocative tone, that I “walk the streets of Maryland” with him. I assume he is talking about out of control, crime ridden, Baltimore? As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this Crime disaster before I go there for a “walk.” Wes Moore’s record on Crime is a very bad one, unless he fudges his figures on crime like many of the other “Blue States” are doing. But if Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in L.A., I will send in the “troops,” which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime.”
Maryland Governor Wes Moore told Newsweek in response to questions by email on Sunday, in part: “President Trump represents what people hate most about politicians–someone who only seeks power to benefit themselves. This is a President who would rather attack his country’s largest cities from behind a desk than walk the streets with the people he represents.”
“The President should join us in Baltimore because the blissful ignorance, tropes, and the 1980s scare tactics benefit no one. We need leaders who are there helping the people who are actually on the ground doing the work.”
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