Although the dinner event was clearly focused on President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda for his upcoming administration, Gov. Mark Gordon played a role in a media event held during Trump’s Thursday night meeting with Republican governors at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
Gordon spoke up after Trump called on him while the governors were discussing the mysterious drones that have been circling the greater United States, including Wyoming. The federal government has provided no answers on the source or reason for the frequent drone sightings.
“We have drones in Wyoming flying over our infrastructure as well and it’s incredibly frustrating that we not only have no way of knowing what it is, but nobody knows how to deal with them,” Gordon said.
Trump responded in agreement, saying, “They don’t want to talk about it and nobody knows why.”
The president-elect expressed hope that the drones are American-run and conducting sensitive research that prohibits public disclosure about what they’re doing. He said answers will be given on issue in a public report the day after he takes office, Jan. 21.
“They know and it’s very strange that they aren’t talking about it,” Trump said about the lack of information coming from federal officials.
Gordon was one of only a few governors to speak up during Trump’s dinner event.
According to The Associated Press, most reporters weren’t invited to the proceedings, but cameras were allowed inside for part of the time. That allowed Trump to answer a series of questions from a Fox News journalist.
Fine Details
Gordon was seated as far away as possible from Trump at the end of the table next to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who ran a short-lived presidential campaign against the president-elect last year. Next to Gordon’s plate was an uneaten roll of bread with a pat of butter sitting beside it and a half-full glass of wine.
Trump and Gordon have had a mixed relationship since Trump left office.
Many of Trump’s most fervent supporters in Wyoming don’t like Gordon and supported his 2018 Republican primary opponent — now U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman — in her campaign against him.
Gordon greeted Trump at the Casper International Airport in 2022 when he came to Wyoming for a rally for Hageman, but did not attend the rally himself, which Trump noted at the event.
About eight months later, Trump called out Gordon in a radio interview, describing him as “a very liberal guy.”
Last August, it appeared the relationship had greatly improved between the two as Trump gave Gordon a shoutout during a private campaign fundraiser in Jackson, saying that, “Wyoming is a great state … and Wyoming has the best governor.”
Michael Pearlman, a spokesperson for the governor, said Gordon engaged in “productive dialogue” with Trump on Thursday night.
“Along with other governors, Governor Gordon expressed concern about federal overreach under the current administration and a desire to cooperate with the incoming Trump administration on natural resource issues and energy policy,” Pearlman said.
Pearlman said Gordon was on his way back to Wyoming as of Friday morning.
Thursday’s dinner came after Trump held a lengthy, closed-door meeting Wednesday with Republican senators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday and after attending the funeral for former President Jimmy Carter earlier in the day.
Trump described his discussions with senators as “a love fest,” but added Thursday that “this is a love fest, too.”
“The governors aren’t exactly chopped liver,” he said to laughter.
Thursday’s Event
During Thursday’s dinner, Trump discussed a wide range of topics from his desire to have the United States take control of Greenland to the onslaught of technology company leaders who have shifted their support to him since Election Day, to his threats to impose steep tariffs on America’s allies.
“We have nothing to hide,” Trump said.
On Friday, Trump was sentenced by a New York state court on 34 felony convictions but given no penalty.
New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan ended the hearing by telling Trump, “I wish you godspeed as you assume your second term in office.”
Contact Leo Wolfson at leo@cowboystatedaily.com
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
