policy
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — They warned about him. Now they should work with him.
A handful of distinguished Democratic governors are quickly adjusting their approach to President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration, hoping to not anger him and ensuring they’ve a working relationship together with his latest administration.
They find themselves in a precarious position: They are cautious while balancing their party's desire to stake out early and sometimes combative positions against Trump's agenda.
“It's a mix of hellish struggle when your values are under attack or when your innocent communities or innocent persons are under attack. And alternatively, you're also trying madly to search out common ground on things that we will agree on,” Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in an interview with The Associated Press.
New York's Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, is walking the same tightrope. She guarantees to ward off against Trump on potential reproductive rights measures while also appearing to hope that she and the Republican can work together.
Hochul, who criticized Trump during a speech on the Democratic National Convention and was a distinguished Democratic surrogate on the campaign trail this 12 months, said she and Trump spoke at length after his victory and located common ground.
“There are areas where we will work together, like infrastructure, where we depend on federal money, and he seems to share my priorities, but I will even work to guard rights, reproductive rights and other rights “she told a press conference.
When asked this week whether, as governor, she would consider pardoning Trump over his hush-money conviction in New York, Hochul notably didn't dismiss the query. “There is a pardon process underway in New York State. It's tedious. It requires a few elements. One of them is regret,” she said, laughing briefly.
A New York jury convicted Trump earlier this 12 months on all 34 counts in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who claimed the 2 had sex.
Other Democrats have taken a decidedly more combative stance.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fierce Trump critic, called for lawmakers to get back to work this month to provide the attorney general's office extra money to launch expected legal challenges against the Trump administration. Newsom’s goal, as he put it, is to “Trump-proof” California’s progressive state laws.
Shortly after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Colorado Governor Jared Polis founded a gaggle called Governors Safeguarding Democracy to “strengthen democratic institutions within the states and make sure that “The rule of law serves all people,” the group says on its website.
Still, Polis has performed a balancing act in his relationship with Trump. He expressed excitement about Trump's selection of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to go the Department of Health and Human Services, saying he was confident Kennedy would tackle “big pharma and big corporations.”
In Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has taken a rather less confrontational stance toward Trump than she did 4 years ago when she was the state's attorney general. At the time, Healey initiated or participated in dozens of lawsuits against Trump on all the pieces from immigration policy to health and environmental issues.
As governor of a state that Harris won easily but where Trump won greater than 35% of the vote, Healey was more muted in her criticism.
“I think I've talked quite a bit about Donald Trump and my feelings toward him,” Healey told reporters after Trump's victory. “We have to see whether he keeps what he promised and what he delivered on Project 2025 or other things,” she said, referring to a far-right political plan.
Healey has indicated that state police is not going to help implement federal immigration law violations – a key Trump priority – but has been less clear about whether she would ban the state's National Guard from detaining people within the country illegally to assist.
As co-chair of Harris' presidential campaign, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer ceaselessly warned of the hazards of a second Trump presidency, describing him as “deranged” and saying his re-election would mean “we have failed as a country.”
But after Trump's victory, the second-term governor largely stayed out of the highlight and said little about how she’s going to address a few of his policy proposals, comparable to mass deportations.
“I know some of my colleagues have come up with some pretty aggressive strategies,” Whitmer told reporters days after the election. “As I think about what a Trump administration will mean for our work, I’m trying to focus on where we can find common priorities.”
Those near Whitmer describe her approach as a wait-and-see strategy, with the hope of working with the president-elect on areas of mutual interest comparable to economic development.
“We have already worked with the Trump administration and will spend the last two years of my term figuring out how to work with a Trump administration,” Whitmer said.
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