Maryland Gov. Wes Moore ratcheted up his criticism of President Donald Trump’s criminal justice policies on Thursday, inviting the president to come to Baltimore to see public safety improvements firsthand.
In a letter, Moore invited Trump to join a public safety walk that also would include Mayor Brandon Scott, State’s Attorney Ivan Bates and other city leaders.
The invitation came after Moore had harsh words for the Republican president at an event at Pimlico Race Course in Park Heights.
“This is a community that does not look at Baltimore like a punch line, but looks at Baltimore as a source of inspiration. And so I do want to be very clear: If you are not willing to be part of the solution, keep our names out of your mouth,” the Democratic governor said to applause.
Moore continued: “Specifically, 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. If you are not willing to visit our communities and invest in our communities, keep our names out of your mouth.”
Trump and Moore have traded words over public safety, beginning with Trump declaring that Baltimore, along with other cities, was “so far gone” — and implying that a National Guard or federal law enforcement deployment might be necessary.
Moore and Maryland Democrats pushed back, touting progress in reducing homicides in Baltimore to their lowest rate in five decades. Moore made the rounds of cable TV, and Trump noticed.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office last week, Trump referred to Moore as “this character” and dismissed Moore’s potential national ambitions.
Moore has continued his steady refrain in speeches and interviews that Trump’s mobilization of the National Guard and federal law enforcement in Washington, D.C., is “performative,” while Baltimore is seeing results on crime through smart coordination, violence prevention and focusing on offenders who use guns.
“If you were willing to spend time, if you were willing to actually walk our communities, walk our streets, and not just talk about us from the Oval Office, you would see what we see,” Moore said at Pimlico.
Moore underscored that point in his letter to Trump, writing: “If there’s anything Maryland has proven over the last two years, it’s that we can achieve performance without being performative. Progress requires the right tool for the right mission. Asking the patriotic citizen soldiers of our National guard to police our cities doesn’t meet that test.”
In the letter, Moore invited Trump to join on a public safety walk at a date of his choosing in September.
“In Maryland and in Baltimore, you will find people who share the same commitment to public safety that I have — and who want to be part of the solution, not the problem,” Moore wrote.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
State’s Attorney Ivan Bates said via spokesman James Bentley that his staff has been in discussion about the invitation with the governor’s office and the state’s attorney “stands ready to support the governor.”
Baltimore has seen a remarkable drop in homicides — after years of 300-plus homicides, there were 201 people killed in 2024.
And the city is on track for even fewer homicides, with 89 people killed so far this year, compared to 125 at the same point last year.
Still, city leaders acknowledge there is more work to do.
And the Park Heights neighborhood where Moore spoke Thursday has still seen violence: 18-year-old Montrel Brooks-Davis was fatally shot the night before on Park Heights Avenue, and nearly two weeks ago, six people were shot in the neighborhood, including 38-year-old Jerome Michael Coateson, who was killed.
Bishop Troy Randall, a community leader who spoke at the event, said his car was struck by bullets this week.
City Council President Zeke Cohen said he would participate in a crime walk with the president.
“I believe it would benefit President Trump to see what happens when leaders collaborate and put the people we serve above our self interest,“ Cohen said. ”We still have a long way to go, but the gains we’ve made are undeniable.”
Trump has been to Baltimore before, but not in several years, and it’s not clear how much of the city he’s seen outside of closely-guarded events.
In 2019, for example, the president’s motorcade was greeted by a fusillade of profanity as it sped down President Street to a hotel that was hosting a meeting of Republican members of the House of Representatives.
And as a candidate in 2016, Trump spoke to the National Guard Association of the United States, which held its convention at the Inner Harbor. He later was whisked out to Baltimore County for lunch at the Boulevard Diner in Dundalk.
Baltimore Banner reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this article.
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