Wes Moore has ramped up his anti-Trump social media strategy and floated redistricting in Maryland as he ponders a 2028 White House bid. Even so, the up-and-coming Democrat remains in Gavin Newsom's shadow.
The Maryland governor recently lampooned Donald Trump as “President Bone Spurs” — following Newsom's all-caps tweets mimicking Trump's signature Truth Social style. Moore says Maryland is open to redistricting to respond to a red state ambush, but any effort in his state has yet to take off while Newsom is leading California in an aggressive remapping push. Moore’s even trailing his West Coast counterpart in receiving Trump’s ire: The president’s threats to deploy the National Guard to Baltimore comes months after he stationed them in Los Angeles, lending to Newsom’s growing star power.
And just this week, Newsom again commandeered the spotlight, warning in an interview with POLITICO that Trump is driving the country toward authoritarianism, saying, “I don’t think Donald Trump wants another election.”
It all amounts to a challenge for the 46-year-old first-term governor to find a way to stand out in what will be a crowded field of White House hopefuls, while still tending to the responsibilities of running his state as he seeks reelection. And it raises the question of whether Moore is willing to deploy the same street-fighting tactics needed to take on Trump — and the rest of the field in 2028.
"Newsom is showing how to fight fire with fire and he’s clearly getting under Trump’s skin,” said Stephanie Cutter, a Democratic strategist who served as an adviser to previous Democratic presidents and candidates.
Now Moore and others are under pressure to match that mettle, heading into a pivotal midterm cycle that will determine which party controls the House and Senate.
"Moore is a powerful, bright, charismatic figure who certainly looks like he's prepared to meet the moment," said David Axelrod, who ran Barack Obama's 2008 upstart presidential campaign. But, he added, "if he's too craven about capitalizing on the opportunity of fighting with Trump because he thinks it will appeal to Democratic voters, then I think that would be a mistake."
Axelrod warned of the dangers of Moore overplaying his hand, adding, “My advice to him would be to do his job. Defend the state, to defend [Baltimore]. … If the president wants to offer help to reduce crime, violence, homelessness, I think he should take it.”
Moore has to consider his state’s dependence on federal funds, a dynamic that’s putting some of the party’s ambitious governors in bind as they try to challenge Trump.
In an interview with POLITICO, the Maryland governor said he jumped into the national conversation with Trump because he's a combat veteran, reasoning the president disrespected military personnel by deploying them to patrol domestic cities.
“I'm a soldier. That's my background, and that's my training, and I will always fight for my people,” Moore said. “If you, if you want to get me going, come after my folks.”
But while Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker have played key roles in the national redistricting drama that has captured the imagination of the Democratic base, Moore has taken a more measured approach. He's said “everything is on the table" when it comes to redistricting and noted the Maryland legislature is “working to identify what is possible” to eliminate Maryland's lone Republican-held seat, held by Rep. Andy Harris.
“I think then it behooves every single one of us to be able to say, well, what are we doing to make sure that we have fair maps within our state too," Moore said, but hasn't explicitly pushed for the legislature to move forward with redistricting.
Trump has yet to follow through on his latest threats aimed at Moore, which include sending National Guard troops to his state's most populous city and withholding congressionally approved funding to repair the Francis Scott Key Bridge.
Moore has tangled with Trump before, but the tenor of his criticism has grown sharper. The governor poked fun at him being out of shape on X, suggesting the president rejected his invitation for a walking tour in Baltimore because he needed a "golf cart” to get around. And he responded to Trump resurfacing a prior controversy about Moore's bronze star as a "doing everything in his power to distract from the Epstein files."
Some of the party’s kingmakers rave about Moore's new posture in the wake of “Liberation Day in D.C.”
“Yes, it’s very helpful…extremely helpful,” said Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), whose strategic endorsement of Joe Biden vaulted the former president to the Democratic nomination and to the presidency five years ago. Clyburn also suggested Trump picked a fight with Moore because he’s the nation’s only Black governor and is leading of one of a handful of states that has a majority minority population.
“Sometimes you have to expose your opponent for who he is,” he added.
Moore stands out in other ways among the 2028 field: his state borders D.C. and has been a vocal opponent of Trump's takeover in Washington comes with barely disguised racial undertones about who is responsible for urban crime.
But by some measures Maryland is in worse shape than it was when he was inaugurated in early 2023. The state has borne the brunt of more than 12,000 federal job cuts through DOGE. And thanks to a $3 billion budget shortfall, Moore and the Democratic-controlled state legislature raised taxes and fees earlier this year. He also blames Trump for cancelling millions in disaster relief funds from FEMA following devastating flood damage in May.
A Maryland Now Poll released earlier this month found Moore’s approval rating slipping to 50 percent – a sign he's not immune from criticism at home as he works to build his name ID to the base nationally.
“I think the larger American public will come to understand what many Marylanders know all too well, and that Wes Moore looks good on TV. And that's about it,” said Doug Mayer, a Republican strategist who was an aide to Moore’s predecessor, former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan. “It's smiles and bullshit all the way down.”
Moore repeatedly insists he is not looking beyond his reelection next year. He is ramping up his gubernatorial campaign operations and reminding voters that he’s made good on promises like pardoning more than 180,000 low-level marijuana offenses and ushering in a historic drop in crime across the state.
But Moore has already caught the attention of Hollywood A-lister and Democratic fundraiser George Clooney and this year headlined a Democratic Party dinner in the early nominating state of South Carolina this May, a clear no-brainer for any would-be presidential candidate. He’s also expected to campaign for Democrats in New Jersey and Virginia ahead of their statewide elections in November.
Republicans continue to hit Moore as being more focused on picking fights nationally than doing the job Marylanders elected him to do.
“Wes Moore’s record has been one of tax hikes, an out of control deficit, and a horrific crime record with Baltimore ranking as one of the worst cities in the nation for crime and murder rates,” said Republican Governors Associations communications director Courtney Alexander in a statement. She added that Moore is “more focused on attempting to build his national profile rather than fix the real problems Marylanders are facing.”
For now Trump is doing some of the work to elevate Moore. After trolling him on social media, Trump claimed during an Oval Office gathering with reporters that Moore had once referred to him as “the greatest president” of his lifetime.
“I know it's not breaking news, but the president's lying,” said Moore. But his recollection of their meeting where they discussed the bridge collapse was different. “When I first met [Trump], he just told me how good looking I was.”
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