Gov. Wes Moore on Iran, pardon power, and his future | NPR's Newsmakers
Up First from NPR
NPR
4.6 • 59K Ratings
🗓️ 27 March 2026
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
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 this interview with Steve Inskeep, Moore says he's 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. The governor and First Lady Dawn Moore have drawn comparisons to the Obamas. He’s a decorated combat veteran, anti-poverty fighter and charismatic public speaker who was elected governor in 2022 in his first ever campaign.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Steve Inskeep with a special episode of Up First. |
| 0:05.4 | It's a conversation from our brand new sister show, NPR's Newsmakers. |
| 0:10.0 | In each episode, we interview some of the most influential people of our time. |
| 0:14.0 | Real questions. |
| 0:15.1 | Pushing for real answers to drive at what they really think. |
| 0:18.8 | You can watch the show in NPR's YouTube channel |
| 0:21.0 | or search for it wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:28.5 | Wes Moore is the Democratic governor of Maryland. |
| 0:31.9 | He's considered a rising Democratic star, |
| 0:34.3 | and he's sometimes talked about as a future presidential candidate. Moore is also |
| 0:39.2 | an American combat veteran, and that was relevant to the discussion we had here in the Maryland |
| 0:44.2 | State House. I want to ask about some news. What are you thinking as your former unit, the |
| 0:50.3 | 82nd Airborne Division, is deployed to the Middle East? You know, I've had a lot of conversations with some of the folks that I serve with. |
| 0:58.0 | In fact, recently as early as this morning, there was always something that we knew as paratroopers, |
| 1:04.1 | as members of the 82nd, or just frankly, anybody in the military, is that you never authorized |
| 1:10.2 | military force unless, A, military force |
| 1:14.3 | was the last option. B, we had an understanding of what the mission and the endgame was. And C, |
| 1:22.6 | you were spending your time and your energy building the right kind of coalition that could help to |
| 1:27.7 | be successful in advance. The problem with this mission is none of those things have a not been |
| 1:35.0 | accomplished, but I'm not sure if any of the three of them have even been thought about. |
| 1:38.5 | Because there is no one who could argue that military action was the last resort on this |
| 1:43.9 | mission. Nobody. There's nobody that can argue that military action was the last resort on this mission. Nobody. There's nobody that can |
... |
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