The deployment of the Texas National Guard to Chicago at the order of President Donald Trump this week is dividing state governors and sowing discord within the National Governors Association, a long-standing group committed to bipartisanship.

As reported by The New York Times, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, both Democratic governors floated as potential 2028 presidential candidates, have threatened to leave the group, which is more than 100 years old and exists to foster collaboration between states.

On Thursday, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear weighed in, criticizing the national organization for a lack of action, but stopping short of saying he’ll leave its ranks.

“I am incredibly disappointed in the National Governors Association,” Beshear said. “In the past, it has always stood up for the powers and the rights of governors, and right now, it’s doing nothing as a president is trying to send the National Guard into states over the objection of the governors and doing so unlawfully.”

“If this organization is meant to stand up for governors, it needs to,” Beshear added, speaking during his weekly news conference.

Beshear is a leader within the Democratic Governors Association, which is a partisan organization separate from the NGA, and is widely speculated to be positioning himself for a presidential run in 2028. During former Vice President Kamala Harris’ bid for the White House last year, his name regularly came up as her potential running mate, though she ultimately selected Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota.

The Trump administration is currently carrying out an aggressive immigration enforcement operation in Chicago, one that has sparked protests at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building there.

In a Wednesday social media post, Trump called for Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson to be jailed for their opposition to his actions in the city.

Pritzker responded by calling Trump a “coward,” according to Chicago’s WGN9.

“He says a lot of things to the camera, he likes to pretend to be a tough guy. Come and get me. Come and get me,” he said.

Beshear, in a social media post, said he stood with Pritzker and called Trump’s threat “unacceptable.”

As of Thursday, a small number of National Guard troops had started protecting federal property in Chicago, as well as assisting law enforcement in Memphis, Tennessee, The Associated Press reported.

According to The Associated Press, 200 Texas National Guard troops were working in the Chicago area. The deployment has prompted multiple court challenges.

“This is not who we are,” Beshear said of the deployment Thursday. “We don’t militarize our communities. It’s one of the tenets of our very founding,” as a country, he said.

The deployment has divided Democratic and Republican governors, including between Pritzker and Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, who have traded insults and barbs. Beshear joined those voices Thursday, opposing the actions of the president and the defense secretary.

“What Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are doing are wrong. It is un-American, and every governor should be standing up against it,” Beshear said.

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