Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Mills attended a White House meeting that she said she would not attend earlier Friday.
Gov. Janet Mills attended a Friday breakfast meeting for governors at the White House after saying less than two hours before that she wouldn’t go to.
The meeting became a point of contention when the National Governors Association pulled out of the annual meeting following President Donald Trump’s initial move to disinvite Mills and other Democratic governors.
Last year’s meeting gained attention for a sharp exchange between Mills and the Republican president that kicked off federal investigations into Maine. That clash has defined her campaign for the Democratic nomination to take on U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in 2026.
Mills issued a statement around 8 a.m,. she would not attend the meeting because Trump has turned it into an “unproductive vanity project.” She appeared in photos taken by Reuters at the event, which began just after 9:30 a.m. Trump gave brief remarks on camera before asking the press to leave.
In a brief interview, the governor said she decided last night after speaking with governors that she would sit out the event after Trump’s “ridiculous and chaotic” week of politicking around the event. But she changed her mind when she woke up with a gut feeling that she should go.
Mills described Trump’s closed-door remarks as a rambling 45-minute speech that ended when he was informed of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision striking down his authority to impose sweeping tariffs. He left the room unhappy, she said.
“That was the end, right there,” Mills said.
Initially, Trump uninvited all Democratic governors to the White House. Later the same day, the administration claimed it would host a dinner for all governors except for Maryland’s Wes Moore and Colorado’s Jared Polis. That prompted Mills and other governors to boycott the meeting.
Days later, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, said that Trump had agreed to invite Moore and Polis. The president then quickly took to Truth Social, a social media platform he holds a majority-ownership stake of, to deny that and call Stitt, who chairs the National Governors Association, a “RINO,” or “Republican In Name Only.”
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Last February, Trump singled out Maine during a Republican governors meeting in Washington. The next day Trump and Mills crossed paths at the governors event at the White House. In a heated exchange, Trump pressed Mills on the state’s policy toward transgender athletes and the governor told the president that she would “see you in court.”
In response, Trump launched a pressure campaign against Maine, threatening to withhold federal funds from the state if it didn’t align with him on trans athletes. Six federal agencies launched sprawling Title IX investigations into the state government, the Maine Department of Education, the Maine Principals’ Association, the University of Maine System and a high school.
That culminated last April in a lawsuit in which the U.S. Department of Justice accused Maine of discriminating against girls and women and failing to protect them in sports. That case is still winding its way through the courts.
Republicans ridiculed Mills for the change of heart on the Trump meeting, with a spokesperson for the national party calling her a weak governor and linking the episode to the Senate race.
“This bumbling episode is just another example of her not being up for the job,” spokesperson Kristen Cianci said. “Janet Mills should do the people of Maine a favor and drop out before she embarrasses herself further.”