Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) wants President Donald Trump to visit Baltimore as the president cracks down on crime in Washington, D.C.
Moore invited Trump on Thursday to take a “public safety walk” in the city next month after the president criticized Baltimore and other cities in blue states. Trump singled out Baltimore and Oakland as “so far gone.”
In the invitation letter to Trump shared with the Washington Examiner, Moore detailed progress on state crime and asked Trump to visit in September.
Maryland’s governor slammed Trump’s National Guard orders in Washington as “offensive” last week. The president responded that Moore, a possible 2028 presidential contender, has “no chance.”
“They say maybe he’ll be a president, but he’s not presidential timber at all,” the president added.
Moore addressed those comments first in his correspondence to the president.
“Last week, you responded to my concerns about the deployment of National Guard personnel for
municipal policing in Washington, D.C. by insulting me personally from the Oval Office,” Moore wrote.
“So I wanted to write in order to clarify the root of my frustration and extend an invitation for you to
visit Maryland, where we can discuss strategies for effective public safety policy,” the governor added.
He explained that public safety is his top priority in Maryland and said homicides have been down 20% statewide since he took office. Moore also said the Baltimore Police Department has recorded a 22% decrease in homicides and a 19% decrease in nonfatal shootings from the year before.
The governor mentioned the “millions of dollars in cuts to federal funding for violence intervention and
gun violence prevention under your administration,” in a slam at the president. He said Maryland continues to invest in “proven strategies” toward public safety anyway.
Moore again criticized Trump for deploying the National Guard, saying, “We can achieve
performance without being performative,” in a reference to the deployment. “Asking the patriotic citizen soldiers of our National Guard to police our cities doesn’t meet that test,” he added.
Moore said the president would be joined by Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, himself, and other officials on the walk.
“In Maryland and in Baltimore, you will find people who share the same commitment to public safety that I have — and who want to be part of the solution, not the problem,” he concluded.
The governor added to the letter Thursday, saying Trump should keep Baltimore’s “name out of your mouth” if he doesn’t want to be part of the solution.
If President Trump were to walk our streets, stand with our people, and visit our community, he would see what I see: 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚. pic.twitter.com/yipidTBTLK
— Governor Wes Moore (@GovWesMoore) August 21, 2025
“Specifically, Donald Trump. If you are not willing to walk our communities, keep our name out of your mouth. If you are not willing to stand with our people, keep our name out of your mouth,” he said.
Trump hinted that he would go beyond the district during his crime crackdown.
“We have other cities also that are bad, very bad. You look at Chicago, how bad it is. You look at Los Angeles, how bad it is. We have other cities that are very bad. New York has a problem. And then you have, of course, Baltimore and Oakland,” he said.
“We’re not going to lose our cities over this, and this will go further. We’re starting very strongly with D.C., and we’re going to clean it up real quick,” he added.
The president’s crime powers don’t extend to other cities like the district. While Trump has the power to federalize the Metropolitan Police Department and deploy federal law enforcement, he would not have the same power in different cities.
Moore took issue with Trump’s initial Washington crime sweep as the closest blue-state Democratic governor to the district.
He’s also a rising character within the Democratic Party. The former Army captain and Rhodes scholar was elected Maryland’s governor in 2023.
WES MOORE CALLS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD ORDERS ‘OFFENSIVE’ AND A ‘DEPLOYMENT OF PERSONAL EGO’
Moore is featured in many presidential conversations as Democrats search for their 2028 nominee. In May, he visited the presidential primary state of South Carolina for the Blue Palmetto Dinner.
He says he isn’t running for president. Moore slammed those who are thinking about the next presidential race when current concerns outweigh the future. “Anybody who is talking about 2028 doesn’t understand the urgency of 2025,” Moore said.