Fact Check: Did Maryland Gov Wes Moore call Trump the 'greatest president of my lifetime'?

WASHINGTON, DC: Since assuming office in January 2025, President Donald Trump has taken several critical decisions. His decisions have generally elicited mixed reactions from the public. He has also made many bold statements during the first year of his second run as the POTUS.

Now, recently, Trump claimed that Maryland Governor Wes Moore called him "the greatest president of my lifetime" in December 2024. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.

Claim: Wes Moore called Trump 'greatest president of my lifetime'

While speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, August 25, Donald Trump claimed that Wes Moore struck a different tune when they met at the Army-Navy football game in Maryland in December 2024.

The commander-in-chief said, "I met him at the Army-Navy game. They said, 'Oh there’s Gov Moore, he’d love to see you.'"

"He came over to me, he hugged me, shook my hand — you were there — he said, 'Sir, you’re the greatest president of my lifetime'. I said, 'That’s really nice that you say that. I’d love you to say it publicly, but I don’t think you can do that, so it’s okay', but, 'No, sir, you’re doing a fantastic job, I want to just shake your hand,'" Trump added.

Fact Check: Wes Moore denies the conversation with Trump ever happened

The claim made by Donald Trump does not seem to be true as Wes Moore scoffed at the POTUS' story, and posted a social media reply that said merely "lol," and another post that said, "Keep telling yourself that, Mr President."

Moreover, he said in a WBAL Radio interview, per The Washington Post, that "when I say that conversation never happened, that imaginary conversation never happened, I mean that conversation never happened."

Furthermore, on Monday, Fox News aired the footage of the brief meeting between Trump and Moore, and acknowledged that the video didn’t show the governor calling Trump "the greatest president."

The video also didn’t show Moore hugging the president as they met. It showed Moore shaking the POTUS' hand and saying, "Welcome back to Maryland, sir. Welcome back to Maryland. It’s good to see you."

As Trump said something brief, which was not audible, Moore said, "Thank you, sir. It’s great to see you, and great to have you back here."

Moore added, "We are very, very anxious to be able to work closely with you."

Moreover, he talked about how he had just spoken to House Speaker Mike Johnson about securing federal funding to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge after a ship crashed into it, and promised to have the project done "on time, on budget."

Trump threatens to deploy troops to Baltimore

Donald Trump threatened to deploy troops to Baltimore and escalated a clash with Maryland Governor Wes Moore after the Democrat invited him to join a "safety walk" in the city.

The MAGA leader took to social media and wrote, "If Wes Moore needs help, like Gavin Newscum did in LA, I will send in the 'troops,' which is being done in nearby DC, and quickly clean up the Crime."

This marks the latest flashpoint in Trump's efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Democratic-led cities as part of what he calls a crackdown on crime.

Notably, Trump has already deployed around 2,000 troops to Washington, DC, a Democratic stronghold.