- Gov. Cox joined more than 20 Republican governors for a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with President-elect Trump on Thursday.
- Cox said he asked Trump about Biden administration decisions in recent days that impact Utah.
- Cox said he was impressed by Trump's grasp of national issues compared to President Biden.
Gov. Spencer Cox received assurances from President-elect Donald Trump that he would support reversing last-minute Biden administration policies that negatively impact Utah lands and energy during a dinner with Republican governors at Mar-a-Lago on Thursday.
Cox visited Trump’s lavish Florida club for the first time along with more than 20 other GOP governors “for a 2+ hour free-flowing Q&A dinner” where Cox said he had the opportunity to ask the incoming president about “last-minute decisions being made by the Biden administration that are clearly political and hurting Utah and other states.”
“The president-elect responded that they are watching closely and will be supportive of unwinding those decisions,” Cox told the Deseret News.
Cox also responded to a question about Trump’s mental fitness for office compared to his experiences with President Joe Biden.
Biden has announced a slate of policy decisions in the final days of his administration in advance of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20., including efforts to supposedly “Trump-proof” foreign aid and environmental actions he championed, and a decision to place bans on future oil and gas drilling off the U.S. coast.
On Biden’s way out of the White House, his Bureau of Land Management also took a surprise shot at Utah leaders by rejecting previous negotiations on a proposed highway in Washington County and putting forward their own “preferred route” that earned a rebuke from Cox and a Native American tribe.
This issue regarding Washington County’s “Northern Corridor” road plan was one of the topics Cox brought up to Trump, the governor’s office confirmed.
What did GOP governors say about Trump?
During a press conference following the dinner, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said the governors in attendance looked forward to working with an administration that values their input. He told reporters that “each governor up here” had expressed frustration toward “overreach” from federal agencies on energy, public lands and environmental issues.
At least 22 of the 27 Republican governors in the country reportedly attended Thursday’s dinner. Among the attendees were Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.
“There was a tremendous amount of hope and optimism among the governors,” Cox said on Friday. “Many of them were governors during (Trump’s) first administration and have seen the contrast. Every person in attendance is excited to have a partner in the White House that understands the power of federalism and the importance of empowering the states.”
Cox on Biden’s vs. Trump’s mental acuity
This week, Trump fielded dozens of questions from reporters during multiple press conferences without relying on a teleprompter. Since entering office, Biden has kept his media appearances brief and tightly controlled by aides. “There really is no comparison,” Cox said, between Trump and Biden on questions of mental acuity, stamina and grasp of important issues.
In February 2024, Cox met with Biden as chair of the National Governors Association. The president’s staff only allowed two questions from the bipartisan delegation of governors, and they had to be submitted in advance so that Biden’s response could be scripted, Cox said.
“Even then, it was very clear that he was struggling and staff tried to limit any unscripted interactions,” Cox said.
“By contrast, President Trump spent two hours answering more than a dozen questions and covering an incredible diversity of topics,” Cox said. “His ability to speak on the big issues (e.g. immigration, wildfires and inflation) didn’t surprise me, but I was pleasantly surprised at the level of detail he knew about obscure issues (e.g. responding to a question from the Alaska governor about ice-breaking vessels and being able to quote the prices and specs of ice-breakers manufactured in Finland).”
What does Cox think of Trump?
Cox’s invitation to Mar-a-Lago represents another step in the Utah governor’s newfound relationship with Trump.
Cox entered office in a Trump critic and remained so throughout the majority of his first term, choosing not to vote for him in 2016 and 2020 and calling for Trump to resign following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Following the Butler County, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt against Trump in July, Cox reversed his longtime position of distancing himself from the former president and endorsed him.
Cox said that his about face on Trump — coming after a bruising Utah GOP primary — was not based on political “calculus,” but a sincere desire to practice “Disagree Better” within the Republican Party and “lower the temperature in this country.”
Just over a month after his endorsement, Cox was invited to an exclusive event with Trump at the Arlington National Cemetery. The visit resulted in a viral TikTok video of Cox speaking with Trump and a controversial photo shoot at the military site.