Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has turned aside speculation that he might seek the presidency in 2028. He is seeking re-election to his current job in 2026.
But in an NPR video interview, Moore made clear that he has put a lot of thought into the challenge that President Trump’s successor would face upon taking office on January 20, 2029.
At 47, Moore is regarded among Democrats as a rising star. He’s a decorated combat veteran, anti-poverty fighter and charismatic public speaker who was elected governor in 2022 in his first ever campaign. The governor and First Lady Dawn Moore have drawn comparisons to the Obamas.
Moore spoke at the Maryland statehouse for the premiere of NPR’s Newsmakers, a new video podcast featuring high-profile interviews with leaders across society, from business figures to athletes to presidential contenders. Newsmakers is now on YouTube, Spotify and here at npr.org. The interviews can also be heard on NPR’s Morning Edition, Up First, All Things Considered and Consider This.
You can watch Gov. Moore above. Below are highlights from our conversation:
He served in a unit now bound for the Persian Gulf region
Moore served in Afghanistan as an officer in the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division —the same unit that President Trump has ordered to deploy to the Persian Gulf region for a currently unidentified mission.
“We used to run battle drills on Iran and how complicated it was,” he said. “We’re talking 25 years ago.”
But he said President Trump should not have authorized force before exhausting other options. He said Trump has given no “understanding of what the mission and the end game was,” and still has an obligation to address the nation on the war.
He’s not running —but has thought about the demands of the job
Moore repeated what he has said elsewhere: that he is focused on his re-election campaign. But when asked, “what is a quality that you think the next president needs to have?” he responded with an extended analysis of the situation the next president will face. He highlighted his own work in Maryland as an example of seeking practical solutions.
“I think that the answer cannot simply be, well, now we’ve just got to put everything back together without an understanding of why [Trump] carried this country for a second time,” Moore said. “There was something functionally broken” about how the government served its people.
He said the next president should acknowledge that some institutions were broken by Trump and cannot be revived. Other institutions may survive but “need to be broken.”
He’s now against the president’s pardon power
Asked for an example of something that “needs to be broken,” Moore said: “I would take the pardon power away from the president and every single governor.”
This would require a change to the Constitution. As governor, Moore himself issued a mass pardon for misdemeanor drug convictions. But he said that after Trump pardoned Jan. 6 rioters and people doing business with his family, he turned against the practice.
“It is disgusting. And it’s a grift. And as thankful as I am to be one of only 51 people in the world who can pardon an American for something… If that’s how it’s going to be used, I would take it from all of us,” Moore said.
He’s a onetime philanthropist who is skeptical of philanthropy
Several times in our interview, Moore deviated from conventional progressive thought. He endorsed the idea of pursuing “equal opportunity” for all Americans rather than “equal outcomes.” He added, “You have some people who think that the definition of fairness is everyone ends up in the same spot.”
He criticized philanthropists who pursue traditional goals of helping the poor and social justice. He said in some cases it’s “philanthropy for philanthropists, like they give away money because it makes them feel better.” Moore once ran the Robin Hood Foundation, which is dedicated to helping the poor. Moore said he led the foundation to pursue deeper “systemic problems” —government policies that keep people in poverty.
The Trump administration has attacked a wide range of non-profits as allegedly partisan actors, even when they are nonpartisan. Moore said he wants non-profits to be more political, pressing the government for substantive change.
Can’t see the video above? Click here.
