President Donald Trump trashed Baltimore, Maryland, during the signing of an executive order on Monday, claiming that Gov. Wes Moore had given him glowing praise. The reality, however, is something very different.
"It's a deathbed," Trump said of Baltimore. "I know Gov. Moore said, 'Oh, he wants to take a walk with me.' He meant it in a derogatory tone. I said, no, no, no, I'm the president of the United States. Clean up your crime and I'll walk with you. But there's — it's a tremendous crime. But he was trying to be derogatory. He doesn't have what it takes, but he's trying to be derogatory."
He recalled meeting Moore at the Army-Navy game and claimed that at the time, the governor gushed with praise.
"They said, 'Oh, there's Gov. Moore, he'd love to see you,'" recalled Trump from the Oval Office. "He came over to me. He hugged me, shook my hand. You were there. He said, 'Sir, you're the greatest president in my lifetime.' I said, 'It's really nice that you say that, I'd love you to say it publicly. But I don't think you can do that.' So, it's OK. But no. 'Sir, you're doing a fantastic job. I want to just shake your hand.'"
"Thank you very much, governor," Trump said he told Moore.
"And then, uh, every time I see him on television, he's knocking the hell out of me," Trump continued. "So, but that's alright. That's called politics."
Raw Story reached out to Moore's campaign about the incident to ask if that was the way the interaction unfolded.
"Didn't happen," communications director Carter Elliott said about Trump's rant.
"There's literally a video of the whole interaction," he added.
Trump and Moore have spent the past week feuding on social media and on television. At one point, Moore invited Trump to take a walk with him in Baltimore. But twice, so far, Trump has refused, indicating it was too dangerous for him.
"President Bone Spurs will do anything to get out of walking," Moore quipped in response to Trump on X over the weekend. Trump turned down his offer to take a walk in Baltimore. "Even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we're making on public safety in Maryland. Hey Donald, we can get you a golf cart if that makes things easier. Just let my team know."
The governor served 16 years in the U.S. Army, including service in combat, and he has participated as governor in the morning PT routine with the U.S. Naval Academy, personal training on the basketball court, and showing off his pull-ups.