President Donald Trump announced his appointments to his administration’s Council of Governors on Wednesday, including a few both parties that he has sparred with over the years.
“Today, President Donald J. Trump announced new appointments to the Council of Governors, a bipartisan group of state leaders tasked with strengthening state-federal partnerships on key national security, disaster response, and military coordination issues,” read the White House announcement.
The council consists of 10 governors, five Republicans and five Democrats.
Among them are Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), who earlier in the same day bashed him as a “king” and said her state “sure as hell” would not labor under him.
“I’m here to say New York hasn’t labored under a king in over 250 years and we sure as hell are not going to start now,” Hochul said during a press conference in Grand Central Station. “The streets of the city where battles were fought, we stood up to a king and we won. In case you don’t know New Yorkers, when we’re in a fight, we do not back down.”
Another Democratic choice was Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), who is rumored to have presidential ambitions and has lashed out against Trump’s “attacks on LGBTQ+ community, reproductive freedoms, and economic stability.”
The other Democrats are Govs. Wes Moore (D-MD), Josh Shapiro (D-PA), and Josh Stein (D-NC), the latter of which was named a co-chairman.
But the GOP side includes some eyebrow-raisers as well, with two governors Trump has sparred with in the past.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) makes the list after serving as arguably Trump’s top Republican challenger in the 2024 presidential election. Trump furiously attacked DeSantis to ward off the attempt, dubbing him “Ron DeSanctimonious” among other nicknames on the campaign trail.
DeSantis dropped out of the race after finishing second in the Iowa caucus.
Another GOPer to get the nod is Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), who famously rebuffed Trump’s calls to interfere with the 2020 election results in Georgia. Trump and Kemp have been frenemies ever since, and did not make a joint appearance again until last October. They appear to have buried the hatchet as Kemp weighs a Senate run.
Govs. Jeff Landry (R-LA), Henry McMaster (R-SC), and Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) round out the Republican contingent. Youngkin was named co-chairman of the group.
The Council of Governors was established by then-President George W. Bush through the National Defense Authorization Act in 2008. In 2010, then-President Barack Obama created the council through an executive order, the release notes.
Its purpose is to promote synergy among a bipartisan panel of the nation’s governments to foster collaboration and cooperation on responses to vital matters, such as natural disasters, deployments and other operations for the National Guard, and “military integration within the states.”
JANUARY NUMBERS PROVE TRUMP RIGHT ON THE BORDER
Additionally, the Council of Governors aids in constructing cybersecurity partnerships and offers input regarding “federal budgetary considerations.”
Each governor appointed to the council serves a term of two years.
