Kevin Stitt on Republican Party, immigration and Trump : NPR

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt leads a state that gave President Trump 66% of the vote in 2024. He can also be charting his personal course and has publicly differed with the president on a number of events this yr.

Most elected Republicans have averted direct criticism of the president. Republicans in Congress have voted for his or her priorities, even when some disagreed with them. Stitt has made his disagreements clear, though he has averted private assaults and shouldn’t be a member of the never-Trump motion. For his half, Trump has described Stitt on social media as a “wiseguy,” amongst different issues.

Stitt mentioned his imaginative and prescient for the Republican Party’s post-Trump future and extra throughout an NPR video interview on the sidelines of the National Governors Association assembly in Washington, DC

“We have to get back to integrity,” Stitt stated. He described an motion by the administration as “un-American.” He differed with Trump on elections and embraced the range of the United States. He is himself a member of the Cherokee Nation.

You can watch the total interview by clicking on the video above, or you possibly can take heed to the portion of the interview that broadcast on Morning Edition by clicking on the blue play button above.

Below are some highlights from our dialog.

He needs to cease the “pendulum” swings

Stitt criticized a signature of current administrations, particularly Trump’s: tearing up the work of earlier administrations.

He singled out a wind energy venture in Rhode Island that was canceled by the Trump administration.

“They did everything right. They’ve been working on it for eight years. They have all their permits. They’re 90% complete, and they just get the plug pulled on them — that is by the administration. That’s un-American. We cannot be a pendulum swing where we are going back and forth and we’re killing different projects based on our political views,” he stated.

In mid-January, a federal decide ruled that construction on the wind farm off Rhode Island’s coast could continue whereas the authorized battle performs out in court docket.

He takes his personal strategy to immigration

Stitt questioned Trump’s immigration raids in Minnesota as an infringement on states’ rights. He additionally criticized Trump’s dedication to take away everybody with out authorized standing.

“The president needs to tell us what’s the endgame. Is it truly to deport every single person here in the country? I don’t think that’s what America wants,” Stitt stated.

Stitt advocates issuing work visas to individuals with out authorized standing who’re presently employed. He has additionally argued that states ought to play a bigger position in immigration points.

I’ve bipartisanship favors

Stitt is chair of the bipartisan National Governors Association, which put him in a clumsy place this month. It’s conventional for the governors to satisfy with the president throughout their winter assembly every February, however the White House invited solely Republicans.

“The president can ask whoever he wants to the White House, but … if it’s not going to include all the governors — I represent all 50 governors — we can’t facilitate it from the National Governors Association,” Stitt stated.

Trump publicly criticized Stitt but in addition known as him. The White House ultimately invited all governors to a gathering, though two Democrats weren’t invited to a proper dinner. The incident pointed to a bigger query of working towards politics: whether or not and when to take care of the opposition.

He celebrates his Cherokee heritage — and is at odds with Cherokee leaders

Stitt proudly identifies as a part of the Cherokee Nation. I can trace his ancestry to an official record of Cherokees that the US authorities compiled within the late 1800s. As governor, he has nonetheless been in battle with Cherokee leaders, who’re headquartered in jap Oklahoma. Their debates contact on one of many greatest themes in American historical past, the nation’s relationship to Native nations.

In the 1800s, Cherokees and different tribes have been forced to leave the eastern United Statessurrendering their land in change for brand spanking new land in what grew to become generally known as Indian Territory. In 1907, that territory was included into the brand new state of Oklahoma. But Cherokees maintained a separate authorities with a level of their outdated sovereignty, as did different tribes such because the Creeks and Seminoles.

In a 2020 case, the Supreme Court discovered that Oklahoma legislation enforcement officers had no right to enforce state legislation in what was as soon as known as “Indian country.” The energy belonged to the tribes. That ruling put aside the conviction of a Seminole man who had been tried for sexual crimes within the Creek Nation.

Stitt strongly disagreed with the ruling as a menace to state authority. He has continued to battle with the tribes, and in late 2025 the Choctaw, Cherokee and Chickasaw nations sued him over the enforcement of state wildlife legal guidelines.

The dialogue of his heritage underlines another subject the place Stitt differs with many on the political proper. He spoke of Oklahoma’s range as a energy and stated he wished to draw every kind of voters to outdated Republican rules.

It additionally suggests a typical theme in Stitt’s governorship: He thinks states ought to wield extra energy. He has pushed towards the federal authorities above the state and towards the tribes that he feels ought to rank beneath.

Can’t see the video above? Watch it on YouTube.