Oklahoma’s governor on Trump, immigration and tribal lands

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4.6 • 59K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2026

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt leads a state that gave President Trump 66% of the vote in 2024. He is also charting his own course and has publicly differed with the president. Stitt sat for an interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep and talked about his vision for the Republican Party’s post-Trump future.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	After disagreements with President Trump, Oklahoma's governor talks of his party's future once Trump is out of office.
0:08.4	We have to get back to integrity. We've got to get back to a limited federal government.
0:13.5	Kevin Stitt talks of Trump, immigration, and more on a special edition of Up First from NPR News.
0:20.8	I'm Steve Inskeep. Kevin Stitt is the conservative governor of a very red state who also
0:26.4	objected to the president's retribution campaign.
0:29.4	That's un-American. We cannot be a pendulum swing where we are going back and forth and we're
0:34.5	killing different projects based on our political views, right?
0:37.9	Also, how does Stitt think about his heritage as a member of the Cherokee Nation?
0:42.3	He takes pride in that identity, which has not prevented him from court battles with
0:46.2	Cherokee leaders.
0:47.6	Stay with us for Kevin Stitt, one of the conversations that shed light on our time.
1:04.5	Is there an acquaintance in your life that you'd love to turn into an actual friend?
1:08.9	And have you thought about saying, hey, we should hang out sometime? Maybe think again.
1:13.1	The more specific you are, the more likely it is that you're actually going to get together. You know, pull out your calendar, pick a time, pick a thing to do
1:17.6	together, and actually follow through. Listen to the Life Kit podcast in the NPR app or wherever you
1:24.1	get your podcasts. Coming up on the Here and Now Anytime podcast, squirrels, ferrets, and moose, oh my.
1:32.2	Climate change is making it harder to be a mammal these days.
1:36.2	Our reporting project, Reverse Course, returns with stories of science in action,
1:41.4	from the frozen north woods of Minnesota to the desert of Arizona.
1:45.9	Listen to here and now anytime wherever you get your podcasts.
1:50.4	Kevin Stitt is governor of Oklahoma. He's also an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation and
1:56.5	chairman of the National Governors Association, which put him at odds recently with President Trump
	...

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