Democratic governors balance whether to fight or pacify after Trump threatens one of their own

[February 24, 2025]  By JOEY CAPPELLETTI

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's real-time confrontation with Maine's governor over transgender athletes captured the conundrum many Democratic governors are facing in the Republican's second term.

Gov. Janet Mills' vow that she would see Trump in court over his threat to withhold money from the state if it didn't comply with his executive order delighted Democrats who want more strident pushback. But the dust-up that played out in the open Friday as Trump hosted governors at the White House ticked off a president known to retaliate against people he considers enemies.

Hours after the spat, the federal Department of Education announced it was initiating an investigation into the Maine Department of Education over the inclusion of trans athletes. Trump doesn't want them playing in girls and women’s sports; Maine law bars discrimination based on gender identity.

“Any time a public interaction like that takes place, it’s coming from a person who’s grounded in their values,” Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in an interview Sunday. “I love Janet Mills and I appreciate her for standing up. I also know that there’s always a cost that comes with that.”

The Democrats who lead the nation's most populous states were in Washington for a meeting of the National Governors Association, where they tried to strike a balance between their states' needs and their feelings about Trump.

Whitmer, known for clashing with Trump during his first term over the federal COVID-19 response, campaigned vigorously against him in 2024 on behalf of Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris. Whitmer said she sat next to Trump at a White House dinner on Saturday night.

“I was the only Democrat at the table. I was a little surprised. I think everyone in the room was a little surprised, to be honest,” she said. “But I took the opportunity to talk a little bit about tariffs.”

Michigan and other states could be significantly affected by some of the president’s early proposals. For example, Michigan expects nearly 42% of its budget to come from federal funds and relies heavily on trade with Canada, which now faces potential Trump-imposed trade penalties.

A federal judge is considering a request to block the administration from freezing trillions of dollars in grants and loans, a move that could severely impact states. At the same time, Trump’s key ally, Elon Musk, is pushing to shrink the federal government, with likely ripples nationwide. About 80% of the roughly 2 million people in the federal workforce live outside metro Washington, dispersed across the country.

“I’m very worried that people are going to make make decisions without a real understanding of what the ramifications are going to be for the American public,” Whitmer said. Musk, she said, is “dangerous.”

At discussion panels and news conferences at the meetings, state leaders struck a conciliatory tone.

President Donald Trump speaks at the Governors Working Session in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. (Pool via AP)

“We always hope that people can disagree in a way that elevates the discourse and tries to come to a common solution,” said Democratic Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, the association's chair, when asked about the Trump-Mills exchange. “I don’t think that disagreement was necessarily a model of that,” he said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, D-N.Y., met with Trump for more than an hour on Friday afternoon to discuss Manhattan’s congestion tolling. Trump ordered a halt to the program, a key Hochul priority, and declared in a social media post: “Long live the king!”

Asked about the meeting, Hochul told CBS' “Face the Nation” that it was “adversarial” and said New Yorkers “need to know I’m willing to take the fight wherever I have to.”

“We’re not going to sit idly by and let our rights be attacked,” she said. “We’ll work with you when there’s common ground, no doubt about it, let’s build great projects and infrastructure. There’s areas where we’re going to work with you on immigration and getting the violent criminals off our streets. We do not dispute that, but don’t think that you can just come in and bully us around and not expect a reaction from governors.”

Whitmer said she had a chance to speak with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, in addition to Trump.

“I’ve got to put the people’s interests before my own interests, before my partisan interest. I got a job to do,” said Whitmer, considered a top-tier potential candidate for the 2028 Democratic nomination for president. “So even if it’s uncomfortable, even if, you know, it’s all the all the things you would assume, on a personal level, that’s second to my job as governor.”

Hundreds of miles from Washington, another 2028 contender took a different direction.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, in his State of the State address on Wednesday, compared the Trump administration to the Nazi movement and criticized members of his own party, declaring, “Going along to get along does not work.”

Pritzker’s response resonated with some key voters.

“We didn’t elect Democrats to become collaborators with our oppressors,” said Lori Goldman, founder of “Fems for Dems,” a Michigan-based group focused on voter turnout.

“We are beyond angry and we are organizing against Democrats that sell us out,” she said.

All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved