ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — They warned about him. Now they have to work with him.
A handful of prominent Democratic governors are quickly adjusting their approach to President-elect Donald Trump ahead of his inauguration, hoping not to anger him and ensuring they have a working relationship with his modern administration.
They find themselves in a precarious position: They are cautious while balancing their party’s desire to stake out early and often combative positions against Trump’s agenda.
“It’s a combination of hellish struggle when your values are under attack or when your innocent communities or innocent people are under attack. And on the other hand, you’re also trying madly to find common ground on things that we can agree on,” Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in an interview with The Associated Press.
New York’s Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, is walking a similar tightrope. She promises to push back against Trump on potential reproductive rights measures while also appearing to hope that she and the Republican can work together.
Hochul, who criticized Trump during a speech at the Democratic National Convention and was a prominent Democratic surrogate on the campaign trail this year, said she and Trump spoke at length after his victory and found common ground.
“There are areas where we can work together, like infrastructure, where we rely on federal money, and he seems to share my priorities, but I will also work to protect rights, reproductive rights and other rights “she told a press conference.
When asked this week whether, as governor, she would consider pardoning Trump over his hush-money conviction in New York, Hochul notably didn’t dismiss the question. “There is a pardon process underway in New York State. It’s tedious. It requires a few elements. One of them is regret,” she said, laughing briefly.
A New York jury convicted Trump earlier this year on all 34 counts in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through a hush money payment to a porn actor who claimed the two had sex.
Other Democrats have taken a decidedly more combative stance.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a fierce Trump critic, called for lawmakers to get back to work this month to give the attorney general’s office more money to launch expected legal challenges against the Trump administration. Newsom’s goal, as he put it, is to “Trump-proof” California’s progressive state laws.
Shortly after Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Colorado Governor Jared Polis founded a group called Governors Safeguarding Democracy to “strengthen democratic institutions in the states and ensure that “The rule of law serves all people,” the group says on its website.
Still, Polis has performed a balancing act in his relationship with Trump. He expressed excitement about Trump’s choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to head the Department of Health and Human Services, saying he was confident Kennedy would take on “big pharma and big corporations.”
In Massachusetts, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey has taken a slightly less confrontational stance toward Trump than she did four years ago when she was the state’s attorney general. At the time, Healey initiated or participated in dozens of lawsuits against Trump on everything from immigration policy to health and environmental issues.
As governor of a state that Harris won easily but where Trump won more than 35% of the vote, Healey was more muted in her criticism.
“I think I’ve talked quite a bit about Donald Trump and my feelings toward him,” Healey told reporters after Trump’s victory. “We have to see whether he keeps what he promised and what he delivered on Project 2025 or other things,” she said, referring to a far-right political plan.
Healey has indicated that state police will not facilitate enforce federal immigration law violations – a key Trump priority – but has been less clear about whether she would ban the state’s National Guard from detaining people in the country illegally to facilitate.
As co-chair of Harris’ presidential campaign, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer frequently warned of the dangers of a second Trump presidency, describing him as “deranged” and saying his re-election would mean “we have failed as a country.”
But after Trump’s victory, the second-term governor largely stayed out of the spotlight and said little about how she will address some of his policy proposals, such as mass deportations.
“I know some of my colleagues have come up with some pretty aggressive strategies,” Whitmer told reporters days after the election. “As I think about what a Trump administration will mean for our work, I’m trying to focus on where we can find common priorities.”
Those close to Whitmer describe her approach as a wait-and-see strategy, with the hope of working with the president-elect on areas of mutual interest such as economic development.
“We have already worked with the Trump administration and will spend the last two years of my term figuring out how to work with a Trump administration,” Whitmer said.
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Associated Press writers Mike Catalini in Trenton, New Jersey; Jesse Bedayn in Denver; Steve LeBlanc in Boston and Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.
