President Donald Trump and Gov. Wes Moore have engaged in an escalating war of words this summer — with Baltimore caught in the crosshairs.

The Republican president questioned Moore’s military bonafides and threatened to send the National Guard to the city and revoke funding for rebuilding the Francis Scott Key Bridge.

The Democratic governor, sometimes mentioned as a 2028 presidential contender, has pushed the president to see Baltimore for himself, mocked the president’s avoidance of military service and declared that he should “keep our names out of your mouth.”

Here’s a breakdown of the recent back-and-forth between the two leaders:

Trump, Aug. 11: During a White House press conference announcing the deployment of the National Guard in Washington, D.C., and the takeover of the city’s police department. Trump called Baltimore and other Democratic-led cities “so far gone” and said his administration was “not going to lose” to crime.

Responses: Mayor Brandon Scott released a statement pointing out that violent crime in Baltimore is down. “Look at the facts,” he wrote.

Moore said he welcomed a conversation with the president if he wants to have a “serious” discussion about public policy. “But we won’t hold our breath,” said Moore, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan.

A joint statement issued by nearly 50 Maryland elected officials, ranging from U.S. senators and the governor to the city’s sheriff and clerk of courts, also decried Trump’s movements in Washington as a “power grab.”

“If the president of the United States was actually interested in reducing violence, he would look to local leaders as an example, rather than federalizing troops to take over our cities,” the officials said.

Moore, Aug. 21: At an event marking the upcoming renovation of Pimlico Race Course, Moore all but dared the president to come to Baltimore for a public safety walk.

“Donald Trump: If you are not willing to walk our community, keep our name out of your mouth. If you are not willing to stand with our people, keep our names out of your mouth,” the governor said. “If you are not willing to visit our communities and invest in our communities, keep our names out of your mouth.”

Moore sent a formal letter to the White House extending the invitation to visit.

Scott chimed in, saying that if the president wants to come to Baltimore, he should first reinstate violence intervention grants, ban ghost guns and provide other crime-fighting resources.

“Otherwise,” Scott said in a statement, “If Trump wants to roll into Baltimore purely to stage a photo op and spew racist narratives about Black-led cities, I speak for the vast majority of our residents when I say: We are not interested.”

Trump, Aug. 24: In a social media post, the president mocked the invitation and said Moore had used a “nasty and provocative tone.”

He wouldn’t go to Baltimore until Moore cleaned up his “crime disaster,” and threatened to send in the National Guard. He also said he would consider pulling federal funding to replace the Key Bridge, which collapsed last year when it was struck by a container ship.

Trump also questioned whether Moore, a veteran, lied about receiving a Bronze Star. Moore was awarded the honor belatedly.

Responses: Moore fired back, jabbed at the president’s military draft deferments, and called him “President Bone Spurs,” saying he’ll “do anything to get out of walking — even if that means spouting off more lies about the progress we’re making on public safety in Maryland.”

Trump, Aug. 25: Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump called Baltimore a “horrible deathbed” and said Moore doesn’t “have what it takes.”

The president went on to lie about an exchange with Moore — captured on video — last December at the Army-Navy football game.

“He said: ‘You’re the greatest president of my lifetime,’” Trump told reporters. “I said: ‘That’s really nice that you said that. I’d love you to say it publicly, but I don’t think you can do that, so it’s OK.’”

While Moore was chummy with Trump, he did not compliment him in that way, according to footage reviewed by The Banner. The scene was part of a Fox Nation documentary series called “Art of the Surge.”

Response: Moore said as much in a radio interview that day.

“When I say that conversation never happened, that imaginary conversation never happened. I mean, that conversation never happened,” Moore told host T.J. Smith on WBAL Radio.

Moore insisted that the president’s latest remarks are just a “distraction” from issues like the federal government’s denial of financial aid for Western Maryland funding, threats to defund the rebuilding of the Key Bridge and other decisions harmful to the state.

Trump, Aug. 26: “I’m not walking in Baltimore right now,” Trump said at a another White House news conference, “Baltimore is a hellhole.”

Early second term

This is first time that Trump and Moore, who has been mentioned as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, have tangled so publicly in the seven months since the Republican president was inaugurated for a second time.

Moore initially took something of a wait-and-see approach with Trump after the president was elected last fall. Moore said he would seek common ground when possible with Trump, but repeatedly cautioned that he would “bow down to no one.”

The first postelection meeting between the two was last December at the annual Army-Navy football game at Northwest Stadium in Landover. The two shook hands and Moore took the opportunity to press for Key Bridge funding. A couple days later, Congress came through with the funding.

Even as Trump signed a flurry of executive orders and shut off federal funds for key state programs, Moore showed signs of frustration but did not lash out.

In February, the nation’s governors had a meeting in Washington with Trump that Moore said changed his perspective. It was during that meeting that Trump argued with Maine Gov. Janet Mills over transgender children competing in sports.

“I come back from Washington with no illusion about what kind of partnership that this administration is trying to forge with our nation’s governors,” Moore said at the time.

First term tough talk

During his first term, in 2019, Trump called Baltimore a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess,” spurring civic outrage from Baltimoreans. Trump faced allegations of racism for blaming what he saw as the city’s problems on then-U.S. Rep Elijah Cummings, a Black member of Congress who died later that year.

When Trump stopped by a Harbor East gathering of congressional Republicans a few months later, his motorcade was greeted by a wave of profanity spewed by boisterous protestors. When Trump left hours later, a smaller group cursed and yelled at him some more.

In his speech that day, Trump blamed a “left-wing agenda” for “undermining law enforcement,” in Democratic-led cities.

“We’re going to fight for the future of cities like Baltimore that have been destroyed by decades of failed and corrupt rule,” according to an online transcript.