“RINO Governor”: Trump Blasts Republican In Dispute Over Bipartisan White House Dinner

President Donald Trump spent Wednesday night lashing out on social media, blasting the Republican governor of Oklahoma, whom he branded “very mediocre (at best!),” after publicly excluding two Democratic governors from an annual bipartisan meeting.

The outbursts came after Trump was apparently forced to walk back on excluding all Democratic governors from the National Governors Association (NGA) gathering, as the organization had reported to its members on Monday.

Quoting an email sent by NGA Chair and Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, which stated the White House intended to limit the 20 February meeting to “Republican Governors only,” Trump branded the claim "false" and was typically effusive.

Trump clarified in his post that he was excluding Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who he claimed “fraudulently stated that he received Military medals”—in reference to a Bronze Star Medal that Moore listed as having received before actually being awarded it.

“That is false! The invitations were sent to ALL Governors, other than two, who I feel are not worthy of being there,” he wrote, having labeled Stitt a “RINO”—meaning “Republican in name only."

In the case of Polis, Trump justified the exclusion on the basis that he “unfairly incarcerated in solitary confinement a 73-year-old cancer stricken woman… for attempting to fight Democrat Voter Fraud” in an apparent reference to Tina Peters.

Peters is a former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk who received a nine-year sentence for voting machine tampering tied to 2020 election conspiracy claims. The illness Trump refers to appears to be a prior case of lung cancer, for which Peters had part of her lung removed in 2016. Colorado corrections officials have denied that she is being kept in solitary confinement.

The dispute is complicated by the fact that the NGA's Washington gathering typically involves multiple White House touchpoints. One is the NGA business breakfast meeting at the White House on February 20, where governors meet with the president and senior officials.

Another is the black-tie governors’ dinner, also traditionally hosted by the president around the same time. Stitt’s initial message to governors focused on the business meeting, saying the White House intended to limit invitations to Republican governors only, while Trump’s Truth Social posts repeatedly referenced the “very exclusive” annual dinner and meeting — language that has left it unclear whether the White House was drawing different lines for different events, or the breakfast and dinner were being treated as a single package.

Trump’s online outburst came after Stitt contacted governors again on Wednesday to inform them that, having spoken to the president on the phone, they had “addressed the misunderstanding in scheduling” and all governors would be invited, according to The Associated Press.

In a follow-up post published two hours later, Trump targeted Stitt directly, labelling him “RINO” again and claiming to be responsible for his re-election as governor. “Sorry, my cherished Oklahoma, to have done that to you!” the post said.

That came less than four years after Trump issued an endorsement statement that said, “Kevin Stitt has done a fantastic job as governor of Oklahoma,” and called him “a champion for our America First agenda,” according to local outlet KOCO 5 News.

Trump then came back for another bite of the cherry in another Truth Social post on Thursday morning, again claiming credit for Stitt's 2022 reelection, while criticizing him for misrepresenting his intentions when earlier stating that Trump would exclude Democratic governors.

"Stitt, a wiseguy, knew this, but tried to get some cheap publicity by stating otherwise," the post said.

The National Governors Association had earlier canceled the White House session after Democrats said they had been shut out. In a statement updated February 11, the group said it was “pleased the president will welcome governors from all 55 states and territories to the White House,” calling the meeting “a valued tradition” and “an important opportunity to build bridges.”

The episode leaves a muddled set of claims about who, exactly, was invited and when—and whether the fight is primarily about the formal dinner, the business breakfast, or both. Reuters reported the White House did not respond to a request seeking clarification of Trump’s remarks about excluding Moore and Polis.

With governors still set to arrive in Washington for the February 20 gathering, the dispute has turned a normally ceremonial show of bipartisan cooperation into an open quarrel, with Trump’s social media posts adding fresh uncertainty over who will be welcomed through the White House doors.