Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat and the state’s first Black governor with Jamaican heritage, strongly criticized former President Donald Trump for remarks suggesting that the federal government should de‑prioritize funding for social programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and child care in order to focus on military spending. Moore made the comments during an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
Moore called Trump’s comments “nonsense,” responding directly to a question from correspondent Ed O’Keefe about a private White House Easter luncheon in which Trump reportedly said the federal government “can’t take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things” because “we have to take care of military protection.”
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“No state has the capacity to simply pick up all those responsibilities,” Moore said, stressing that responsibility for healthcare, food security, and other basic needs cannot simply be shifted to the states without jeopardizing millions of Americans’ wellbeing. “Governors don’t have full control over that,” he added, citing the example of rising energy costs that state leaders can’t fully address on their own.
Moore, a former Army captain who served in the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan, noted that prioritizing war spending without a clear endgame is damaging both to families and to the broader economy. He warned that the United States risks becoming “lurching again into another forever war,” particularly related to ongoing military action against Iran.
His remarks come amid broader criticism of Trump’s handling of both domestic and foreign policy. Recently, Trump backed away from previous campaign promises to protect Medicare and make child care more affordable, telling aides that those programs are too expensive for the federal government given broader fiscal priorities like defense.
Trump’s recent budget proposal for 2027 requests a record $1.5 trillion in defense spending while proposing cuts in domestic areas, signaling the administration’s focus on military investments over social safety nets, a shift that has drawn bipartisan concern in Congress.
Moore also directly challenged Trump’s communication on the Iran war, saying the president still has “yet to articulate what success…looks like” and that the lack of clarity is leaving Americans with uncertainty about cost, objectives, and long‑term implications.
Moore’s own political and personal background informs his stance. He grew up with a strong sense of public service and earned degrees from Valley Forge Military Academy and College, Johns Hopkins University and as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. After military service, he worked in finance, international affairs, and nonprofit leadership before being elected governor in 2022.
A proud son of Jamaican heritage, his mother hails from Trelawny, and he considers himself deeply connected to the island’s culture, Moore frequently speaks of his family’s immigrant roots as shaping his commitment to expanding economic opportunity and equity.
As governor, Moore has pursued policies to broaden access to healthcare and services in Maryland, including expanding Medicaid coverage and proposing significant state funding for SNAP nutrition assistance and Medicaid in the face of federal cuts.
With economic pressures mounting, including inflation, rising gas prices, and federal job losses that have heavily affected Maryland, Moore’s critiques reflect broader Democratic concerns that domestic priorities are being overshadowed by escalating defense commitments
Maryland Governor Wes Moore, who is of Jamaican heritage, sharply criticized former President Donald Trump for suggesting that the U.S. should prioritize military spending over programs like Medicare and day care.
“That’s nonsense,” Moore said in an interview that aired Sunday on CBS’ Face the Nation. “And that’s not what any of us want. We don’t want to be fighting foreign wars while you’re taking away our health care.”
Moore was responding to remarks Trump made at an Easter White House luncheon on Wednesday, where he said, “It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things. They can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing: military protection. We have to guard the country.”
A video of the president’s remarks was briefly posted online by the White House before being deleted.
Moore pushed back, emphasizing that no state has the resources to replace federal programs. “So many of the decisions that this White House is making, they are making with a clear understanding that no state has a budget to say, ‘OK, well, we’ll just take on health care,’ or ‘We’ll just take on food insecurity,’” he said.
Drawing on his experience as a former member of the 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan, Moore also criticized Trump’s handling of the Iran conflict and its broader economic impact. “I think the president still does not have a full articulation as to why gas prices are going up in the first place, or what’s going to be necessary or required to be able to bring them down,” Moore said.
