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Gov. Janet Mills was catapulted into the national spotlight after clashing with President Donald Trump at the White House during last year’s meeting with a bipartisan group of governors from across the country.

Trump threatened to withhold federal funding if Mills didn’t prohibit transgender athletes from competing in girls sports. Mills said she’d see him in court and instantly became a national symbol of the resistance to Trump administration policies early in his second term.

But there will be no sequel. That’s because Trump is planning to host only Republican governors at this winters’ meeting of the National Governors Association and invited a smaller group of Democrats to a separate dinner, according to national press reports.

Mills aides said on Monday that the governor planned to attend the association’s meetings, slated for Feb. 19-21, but she had not been invited to any White House events.

“Despite a year full of attempted retaliation and intimidation from his administration, we have always fought back,” Mills said in a written statement. “Maine will not be intimidated, we will stand for the rule of law, and I will never hesitate to stand up to Donald Trump and his harmful agenda again in order to protect Maine people.”

The White House would not answer questions about whether last year’s confrontation with Mills had anything to do with his decision.

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Maine Gov. Janet Mills, in left image, speaks to President Donald Trump as Trump delivered remarks during a governors working session in the State Dining Room at the White House in February 2025. Trump, in the right image, is shown speaking at the event. (Associated Press)

“Many Democrats were invited to dinner at the White House, and others were not,” a White House spokesperson said. “These are White House events and the president reserves the right to invite whomever he wants.”

The New York Times reported that two Democratic governors, Wes Moore of Maryland and Jared Polis of Colorado, were disinvited from the dinner. Both have criticized Trump in recent weeks.

Brandon Tatum, CEO of the governor’s association, said in a written statement that the bipartisan meeting of state leaders is “an important tradition.”

“We are disappointed in the administration’s decision to make it a partisan occasion this year,” Tatum said. “To disinvite individual governors to the White House sessions undermines an important opportunity for federal-state collaboration. At this moment in our nation’s history, it is critical that institutions continue to stand for unity, dignity and constructive engagement.”

After threatening to withold funding from Maine at last year’s meeting, Trump also told Mills to “enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”

The clash, including Trump’s claim that he and his administration were the federal law, helped convince Mills to run for U.S. Senate in an effort to unseat five-term Republican Susan Collins of Maine. Mills is making her resistance to Trump a centerpiece of her campaign.

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The meeting in D.C. comes amid the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown.

Maine was the subject of a federal enforcement surge for about four days last month. Federal officials say they arrested 206 people here but have not provided any details.

The crackdown in Minnesota, where federal agents killed two American citizens, is ongoing.

Mills had requested an in-person meeting with Trump amid the Maine surge and called for the resignation of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The White House did not say whether Trump would meet with Mills.

Randy Billings is a government watchdog and political reporter who has been the State House bureau chief since 2021. He was named the Maine Press Association’s Journalist of the Year in 2020. He joined...

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