President Donald Trump blocked Maryland Gov. Wes Moore from speaking at a White House event marking the unveiling of a new manufacturing investment in the Baltimore area, reigniting an ongoing partisan tiff between the leaders.
Anduril Industries, a defense tech company with deep ties to Trump’s orbit, initially asked Moore to be on the speaking program for a Tuesday announcement at Tradepoint Atlantic, an industrial hub in Central Maryland, according to people familiar with the matter. However, the governor was notified over the weekend that Trump requested that the governor be removed from the schedule.
The White House, in a statement, said the “president is willing to work with anyone to revitalize our manufacturing sector,” adding that Moore was invited to be a guest. Moore will no longer attend Tuesday’s event, but will instead speak at a different event, a ribbon-cutting ceremony for McLaren Vehicle Processing Center, the people said. When asked for comment, Anduril deferred to the White House and the governor’s office.
“Governor Moore has always said he will work with anyone when it comes to delivering for Marylanders but bow to no one when it comes to standing up for them,” a Moore spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday to MS NOW. “The Governor is proud to welcome Anduril to Baltimore County and the thousands of permanent jobs this investment is bringing to our state.”
The governor is notably running for re-election in November with recent polls showing him with a sizable lead over his Republican challenger, former state lawmaker Dan Cox. “If the president of the United States wants to bring the circus into town and tell me that I’m not allowed to speak to the fact that we were the ones that helped bring the deal, then I will let the circus be conducted,” Moore said, speaking to reporters at another event Tuesday, adding, “while I go back to the work of the people of Maryland.”
Despite Moore’s absence, Anduril CEO Brian Schimpf thanked Moore and other local leaders during his remarks for moving “with urgency to help bring industrial investment of this scale to Baltimore County.”
“They have also worked closely with us across the many requirements necessary to make this investment come to fruition,” Schmipf continued.
An industry official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity, said conversations with the Navy about the project began as early as late 2024, but it “kicked into a higher gear following Trump’s executive order earlier this year to ramp up shipbuilding.”
Meanwhile, a 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 an announcement that will bring sorely needed jobs back to his state thanks to President Trump.”
The standoff is not the first between Trump and Moore, who is considered a rising star in the Democratic party and possible 2028 presidential contender. The president also attempted to block Moore from a closed-door White House meeting in February with the National Governors Association, which Moore now chairs. Trump initially said the governor was “not worthy” of attending before ultimately allowing him to join the gathering amid backlash from fellow governors.
After Trump’s election win, the two men were seen shaking hands at the Army-Navy football game at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland, in December 2024. The governor has long pledged to work across the aisle, but tensions brewed following Trump’s mass layoffs of federal workers and his aggressive deportation effort, both of which deeply affected Moore’s constituents.
Trump will deliver remarks to the industrial community, known as Sparrows Point, which was once home to the world’s largest steel mill at its peak in the 1950s run by Bethlehem Steel. Most of the property, after Bethlehem Steel went bankrupt in 2012, has been revitalized by a real estate developer that has brought in multiple manufacturers to occupy the space.
His trip to Maryland comes at a time when Trump has delivered mixed results on his promise to bring a manufacturing renaissance to America. The U.S. has lost around 21,000 manufacturing jobs since the start of Trump’s second term in January 2025, according to employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Some voters in Maryland expressed frustration Tuesday morning with the president’s handling of the economy. Ahead of his remarks in the Baltimore area, residents of the city across the political spectrum voiced concerns over the cost of living.
Steve Kinsinger, a business owner who voted for Trump in 2024, said he did not imagine the economy being in its current state when he cast his ballot for the president. He thought things would be “a lot different” with Trump in office.
“We’re struggling out here,” said Kinsinger. “What people really need is a change in the economy.”
Xavier Teller, a 44-year-old, told MS NOW that he supported Trump in 2024 because he believed the messages he was campaigning on. As a truck driver, he felt Trump’s agenda would support his industry.
“When he was advocating for the truckers, I felt like, OK, finally a president got our back,” Teller said. “I don’t like the guy, but he said he was going to stand on something that I believed in, and he didn’t.”
Jack Marszalek, a three-time Trump voter, acknowledged some promises have not been kept by the president, but said he didn’t blame him for it when it came to the Baltimore area.
“Our governor has been against him every step of the way. The city mayor has been against him every step of the way,” said Marszalek.
Trump has touted the fact that the U.S. has gained 72,000 manufacturing jobs since December, but he is notably starting the clock at a low point in manufacturing jobs data under his tenure rather than the beginning of his second term.
At the same time, manufacturing activity is experiencing a rebound in the U.S. The S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI recorded its highest growth in September since May 2022. However, supply chain shocks and skyrocketing diesel prices, as a result of the war with Iran, still threaten to squeeze companies.
A new shipyard, dubbed Arsenal-2, will be building submarine components for the Virginia-class submarine, a class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the Navy. The facility is being stood up with $3.7 billion from Anduril, along with a $2.9 billion investment from the U.S. Navy, according to administration officials and a press release from Anduril.
The company says payments from the Navy are “tied directly to demonstrated production outcomes.”
Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey is a prolific GOP donor and fundraiser. 1789 Capital, the GOP-aligned investment firm where Donald Trump Jr. serves as partner, is also invested in Anduril and other defense tech companies with federal contracts, MS NOW previously reported.
Anduril has already received more than $1.5 billion in government contracts since the start of Trump’s second term, according to government data, mostly from the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security. Less than two years into Trump’s second term, its level of funding has surpassed the $1.23 billion in contracts the company received during former President Joe Biden’s tenure.
Jesse Rodriquez contributed to this report.
The post A private company invited Gov. Wes Moore to a Baltimore event. Trump had him removed as a speaker. appeared first on MS NOW.
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