Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said on October 6, 2026 that President Trump blocked him from speaking at an event near Baltimore unveiling a defense investment Moore had helped negotiate: Anduril's plan to make Virginia-class submarine components at a former steel plant, backed by a $2.9 billion Navy contract, CNN reported. A White House official did not dispute the account and said Trump had invited Moore only as a guest.
“If the president of the United States wants to bring the circus in town and tell me that I'm not allowed to speak, despite the fact we were the ones that helped bring the deal, then I will let the circus be conducted while I go back to the work of the people of Maryland,” Moore said, and skipped the event. The White House official said: “It's unfortunate that the Governor is now making a multi-billion dollar announcement about himself by throwing a tantrum over a federal initiative that will bring sorely needed jobs back to his state thanks to President Trump.”
It follows Trump's exclusion of Democratic governors from a White House event earlier this year (see Trump Shuts Democratic Governors Out of the White House's Bipartisan NGA Gathering, Breaking Decades of Tradition).