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3w ago

Italy Getaway Puts Spotlight on Wes Moore’s Travel, Costs and 2028 Buzz

His office says the Lake Como visit was a privately funded birthday trip that did not interrupt his duties.

First Lady of Maryland Dawn Moore and Governor of Maryland Wes Moore attend the 2025 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture presented by Coca-Cola - Day 3 at Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on July 06, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
After his announcement and signing of the housing executive order, Governor Wes Moore takes questions from the media about his housing goals and about President Donald Trump’s push to mobilize the national guard in Baltimore.
Minnesota Gov. TIm Walz, right, hands the microphone to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore at Rep. Jim Clyburn's World Famous Fish Fry, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard)

Overview

  • New reporting details a broader itinerary this year that includes a six-day Asia trade mission costing taxpayers about $322,000, political stops in South Carolina, and fundraising and business gatherings in Aspen, Detroit and Sun Valley.
  • Photos published by the Daily Mail showed Moore and his wife on a boat at Lake Como near George Clooney’s villa over Labor Day weekend.
  • Moore’s communications director says he personally paid for the Italy trip for the first lady’s 50th birthday and did not transfer authority to the lieutenant governor.
  • Republican critics, including a White House deputy press secretary and Maryland lawmakers, condemned the optics and pressed for answers on whether public funds covered any security or travel related to the getaway.
  • Moore’s team points to economic development from his travel, citing meetings with Hitachi ahead of a Hagerstown facility opening, as analysts say the schedule resembles groundwork for 2028 that he continues to deny.