Fox News attempted to back up claims Donald Trump made about Maryland Gov. Wes Moore by showing a clip that contained almost none of the president’s side of the story.
While speaking to reporters at the Oval Office on Monday, Trump, 79, told a tale about meeting the Democrat at the Army-Navy college football game in Maryland in December 2024.
“He came over to me, hugged me, shook my hand. He said, ‘Sir, you’re the greatest president of my lifetime.’ I said, ‘It’s really nice that you say that. I’d love you to say it publicly, but I don’t think you can do that,’” Trump said.
Moore, 46, immediately disputed Trump’s version of events, posting on X “lol” and “keep telling yourself that, Mr. President.”
Fox News’ Will Cain tried to embarrass Moore by playing footage on his show Monday, originally broadcast by The Art of the Surge on the network’s streaming service Fox Nation, which he suggested would show Trump’s version of events was accurate.
However, while the footage does show Moore excitedly shaking Trump’s hand and telling him “Good to see you,” the governor never hugs Trump, nor tells him he is the “greatest president of my lifetime.”
Trump and Moore did briefly discuss efforts to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, which collapsed in March after a cargo ship crashed into it. Moore suggested it could reopen during Trump’s second term with federal funding.
“We’ll help you out,” Trump told Moore.
Cain even admitted that Trump appears to have completely made up parts of the conversation after playing the footage.
“We didn’t hear there ‘greatest president ever,’ but we did hear a lot of enthusiasm and ‘So excited to meet you, Mr. President!’ Who’s telling the truth? We’ll let you decide.”
Moore, who has challenged Trump to walk the streets of Baltimore to disprove his claim it’s a “crime disaster,” also disputed the president’s version of their December 2024 encounter in an interview with WBAL Radio.
“When I say that conversation never happened, that imaginary conversation never happened, I mean that conversation never happened,” Moore said.
A spokesperson for Moore’s office added to the Daily Beast: “It should be surprising to no one that the President would like to distract from his unpopular agenda that is making life more expensive for Marylanders and Americans across the country. We wish he would spend more time focused on addressing the cost of living as he does on making stuff up.”
The White House doubled down on the claim that the Democratic governor—touted as a potential 2028 presidential candidate—secretly praises Trump, insisting he did so “behind the scenes after the President’s landslide victory on November 5th.”
“The only reason lightweight Wes Moore is attacking President Trump now is because he’s desperate for attention and delusional enough to think he has a chance at becoming the next President,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston told the Daily Beast.
“Wes should spend less time attacking President Trump and more time cleaning up the massive crime mess in Baltimore.”
