President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a working breakfast with governors in the State Dining Room at the White House on February 20, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump told governors Friday during a White House meeting that he has no plans to augment federal immigration operations in states where it is not desired.
Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said during an afternoon news conference with several other governors that during the closed-door meeting, Trump was asked what lessons he had learned from an immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota, where federal officers killed two U.S. citizens.
“The president said, ‘We’ll only go where they want us.’ And she said things like, ‘I’m not going to New York unless Kathy calls and says she wants me to come to New York,’” she said. “I thought it was a very positive outcome of this meeting. And I would like to see him and the administration stick to that statement.”
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, vice chairman of the National Governors Association, said Democratic governors were able to express “how problematic” the actions of immigration enforcement officials were, especially after Republicans in Congress dramatically augment funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as Customs and Border Protection in the signed tax cuts and spending bill.
“We were actually encouraged when the president said that one of the takeaways from Minnesota is that he only wants to go where he’s welcome. So we were very happy to hear that,” he said. “I want to make it very clear that until we have an accountable agency, the type of growth we have seen in Minnesota is not welcome in the state of Maryland.”
Louisiana Republican Gov. Jeff Landry said during a news conference at the NGA winter conference that he has “no problems” with federal immigration enforcement actions in his state.
“Why? Because it was a completely integrated operation with local, state and federal partners working together,” he said. “We did not allow people to violate our laws and interfere with law enforcement in carrying out their lawful duties.”
Landry said Trump “has been clear: If you don’t want our help, we’re not going to give you any help.”
Ruling on tariffs interrupts meeting
Governors from across the country traveled to Washington this week to attend the annual winter conference and meet with Trump at the White House, though the meeting was slightly changed after the Supreme Court’s ruling on tariffs.
However, Trump is scheduled to host a state dinner for some governors this weekend I decided not to invite some Democrats for the event, sparking controversy in the run-up to the governors’ meeting.
Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, chairman of the National Governors Association, said during an afternoon news conference that 12 Republican governors and 10 Democratic governors attended the morning meeting with Trump.
“Overall, it was a really productive meeting and a great demonstration of, ‘Hey, here’s how governors can come before the president and raise issues that affect all of us,'” he said.
Moore said the White House meeting was “productive” and “gave us a chance to share our thoughts, perspectives and ideas with Cabinet secretaries and agency heads, as well as with the president himself.”
“We had the opportunity to talk about issues that are important to the citizens of our states. We had the opportunity to talk to cabinet secretaries about energy prices and how we need to focus to lower energy prices,” he said. “We had the opportunity to talk with the Secretary of Transportation about transportation issues. In the case of Maryland, it was the American Legion Bridge and the Francis Scott Key Bridge.”
Moore added that the meeting was an critical opportunity to “speak truth to power” and show that bipartisanship still exists on some issues.
Sewage leak, gate tunnel
Moore said he wasn’t praising Trump, blaming him for it sewage leak began with a discharge into the Potomac River in the District of Columbia, it was instead decided to operate the meeting to focus on talks with cabinet secretaries on infrastructure, disaster relief and housing.
“I’m here to focus on helping the people of my state,” he said. “I’m not going to spend another moment talking about a minor attack that was committed by the president of the United States.”
Hochul said she appreciated the cabinet secretaries’ presence at the meeting and the fact that the governors were able to talk to them about several issues.
“I had the opportunity to talk about the Gateway Tunnel and maintaining funding for the largest infrastructure project in America,” she said, referring to design to build a modern railroad between New York and New Jersey under the Hudson River. “We would like to keep our offshore wind power on and not have to keep going to court to get it back on.”
North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said he was able to speak directly with Trump about the state’s ongoing recovery needs after Hurricane Helene.
“We have to rebuild homes. We have to rebuild roads and bridges. We have to rebuild businesses. And we can’t do that in North Carolina without the federal government’s partnership,” he said. “We have a request for $13.5 billion from the (Office of Management and Budget) and Congress. I asked the president and he said they were happy to talk about it.”
“That’s why I came away very encouraged that his administration will refocus on helping western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene.”
Landry said Supreme Court judgment on customs dutiesthat came out during the meeting “totally overshadowed what I thought was building up to a very productive meeting with the president.”
“It’s a pity that the Supreme Court made the wrong ruling at the time because I think we had a great meeting ahead of us,” he said.
Trump promised to keep tariffs at the current level under different authorities, which he believes he is organizing during an afternoon press conference at the White House, during which he also rebuked six Supreme Court justices who he wrote “which (the International Emergency Economic Powers Act) does not authorize the President to impose tariffs.”
Hochul did not agree with the statement that the Supreme Court’s decision was not right.
“I believe that the Supreme Court, many of whom are presidential appointees, have opted to support the Constitution and do what is right,” she said. “That’s why we support this decision and hope that we can continue to find ways to work together to lower costs and not do the opposite, as we have seen tariffs do in our states.”
