As Democrats struggle to counter the far-reaching actions of President Donald Trump, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says he’s comfortable taking a back seat in the national conversation.

Moore has been tagged as a rising star in the Democratic Party, a young leader who is the nation’s only Black governor.

But, sitting in his State House office Wednesday after Trump delivered an aggressive, partisan speech to Congress the night before, Moore insisted he’s not the one to lead the Democrats forward. He didn’t even watch the speech.

“I don’t think it’s my job to tell the Democratic Party how to find itself,” Moore said in an interview. “I think I just need to make sure that we’re protecting the 6 and a half million people in my state. And I think that’s how I want to spend my time.”

Moore’s hands have been full since Trump was sworn into office Jan. 20. There’s been a relentless flurry of executive actions, including layoffs of federal workers, threats to shutter federal agencies, discontinued funding and, for one chaotic day in January, a pause in all federal dollars that were supposed to flow to the state.

For the first few weeks of the Trump presidency, Moore held his tongue, hopeful that he might find common ground with the Republican president. He even declared at one point: “I am not the leader of the resistance.”

That changed nearly two weeks ago, after the nation’s governors met with the president and Moore returned from D.C. with a new resolve to call out the president’s harmful actions.

But Moore will pick his moments, even while other Democratic governors are freely and regularly putting the president on blast.

Moore said he’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t have an opinion on every Trump action. And on some issues where Moore does have an opinion — last week’s Oval Office meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine was “an embarrassment” — he tries not to spend too much time or energy on them. Doing so requires “an exercise in discipline.”

Following the Trump-Zelenskyy meeting, for example, Moore signed on to a statement with other Democratic governors, but he didn’t do interviews or social media posts or even announce he was part of the statement.

That same day, Moore took a pass on commenting on Trump’s order to make English the official language of government and his announcement that he plans to pardon the late baseball star Pete Rose.

“One thing I think is important is that, while nothing really surprises you, be careful on what moves you,” he said.

Instead, Moore has spent his public-facing energy in recent days highlighting the plight of laid-off federal workers and criticizing the imposition of tariffs that could impact the Port of Baltimore. He’s also promoted his agenda in Annapolis.

“If it’s not impacting the 6 and a half million people who I’m committed to, and I’ve sworn to protect and to lead, then it’s not going to take up mind share,” Moore said.

The best way to show a path forward for Democrats, and the country, Moore said, is to achieve success at the state level. He touted his efforts in this General Assembly session to enact tax reforms and grow the economy by investing in industries of the future.

“I think if people want to see: What do I think the future of the Democratic Party is? Look to the states. Look to what the governors are working on; look to what the chief executives are doing,” Moore said. “Because I think, for us, it’s very much: Show, don’t tell.”

But Moore is facing headwinds in Annapolis, after relatively smooth sailing with lawmakers during his first two years in office.

Two of his biggest initiatives this year — his budget-balancing plan and efforts to revamp parts of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education plan — have run into opposition from lawmakers and from Marylanders.

Lawmakers are advancing a version of Moore’s Blueprint bill that undoes most of his cuts; the governor wouldn’t say whether he would sign the stripped-down bill.

The actions of Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress have added a degree of difficulty to the work in Annapolis, particularly hashing out the budget. All indications are that the state government’s financial picture will worsen due to the swift and severe shrinking of the federal government.

“The thing that’s different is trying to remind people that this is not a fire drill,” Moore said. “What’s happening right now with Donald Trump, what’s happening right now with this administration, this is real, and we’ve got to take this seriously, because it’s only accelerating.”

Moore said he hopes to move past “people making statements and trying to get attention in the news” to work with lawmakers to solve the budget picture.

Moore said he’s “personally engaged” in budget negotiations and pressing for his bills, which also include measures to improve economic development programs and ease approvals for certain housing projects.

The governor said he’s dedicated to his “North Stars” of giving a tax break to the middle class, helping businesses and making smart investments, he said.

“I’m hard on those. That, I’m not moving,” Moore said. “The journey on how we get there? I’m flexible.”