Gov.-elect Tim Walz (D-MN) turned down an invite from President Donald Trump to participate in a meeting with the nation’s newly elected governors scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
“The governor-elect is in Minnesota building his incoming administration and is unable to attend the meeting at the White House,” Walz spokeswoman Kayla Castaneda told The Pioneer Press, saying Walz was busy vetting applicants for his administration.
In November, however, Walz found the time to attend the National Governors Association training session in Colorado.
“It was great to be with other governor-elects, and now I’m excited to head back to Minnesota and get to work,” Walz tweeted after the weekend-long meeting.
Today is the last day of our National Governors Association training session. It was great to be with other governor-elects, and now I’m excited to head back to Minnesota and get to work! pic.twitter.com/mOncEt74IN
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) November 18, 2018
State Rep. Anne Neu (R-North Branch) said she was “disappointed” that Walz chose not to attend the meeting with “13 of his newly-elected colleagues.”
“Minnesota needs a strong relationship with our partners at the federal level—including President Trump—as we work on issues like health care, infrastructure, combating the opioid epidemic, public safety, and more,” she added. “I hope Gov.-elect Walz will make it a priority to meet with President Trump in the near future and work to build a productive working relationship with the White House.”
Several of Walz’s Midwest colleagues joined Trump at the White House Thursday, including Gov. -elect Mike DeWine (R-OH), Gov.-elect Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), and Gov.-elect Tony Evers (D-WI).
Trump later tweeted out a picture of the meeting, saying it was an “honor to welcome the nation’s newly elected governors to the White House.”
Today, it was my honor to welcome our Nation’s newly elected Governors to the @WhiteHouse! pic.twitter.com/LCpFIoRglp
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2018
“They’re all going to do great jobs,” Trump said, according to The Hill. “We have some real stars in the room.”
Walz said on Twitter Thursday that has administration has “received more than 1,500 applications” to work in his administration, including “500 for agency leadership roles.”
As of today, we’ve received more than 1,500 applications to work in our Administration (including 500 for agency leadership roles).
On our listening tour, we traveled over 2,100 miles to encourage Minnesotans to step up and serve our state. It’s clear they heard the call. pic.twitter.com/PvG9bRvnga
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) December 13, 2018
“On our listening tour, we traveled 2,100 miles to encourage Minnesotans to step up and serve our state,” he added. “It’s clear they heard the call.”
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of Battleground State News and The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Tim Walz” by Tim Walz.
