Gov. Maura Healey talked with American Airways’ prime govt days after a jet and navy helicopter collided in Washington and met with a key Trump administration official whereas she was in DC final month, in line with a duplicate of her February calendar launched to the Herald.
The 2 conferences had been a part of a packed month through which Healey additionally held court docket with a lieutenant common within the Air Drive, talked with offshore wind builders alongside her vitality and environmental affairs secretary, and welcomed the king of Jordan to Massachusetts.
The primary-term Democrat met with White Home Deputy Chief of Workers for Legislative, Political, and Public Affairs James Blair on Feb. 22 on the White Home whereas she was on the town for the winter assembly of the Nationwide Governors Affiliation in Washington DC.
“Healey requested a meeting, just as she requested meetings with the Biden Administration, to connect on areas in which Massachusetts and the federal administration can work together, including on artificial intelligence, energy and transportation,” a spokesperson for Healey stated in an announcement.
A White Home spokesperson didn’t reply to a request for remark Thursday.
The assembly between Blair and Healey got here a day after Trump and Maine Gov. Janet Mills had a fiery trade on the White Home over a menace to disclaim federal funding to the state until officers there banned transgender athletes from competing in ladies’s sports activities.
In a nationwide media interview launched a couple of week later however taped after Healey returned from Washington, the Massachusetts governor stated she was sitting at Mills’ desk when Trump singled her out.
“What I saw as so upsetting in that exchange was when he looked at her, and I was sitting at the table, and he leered at her, and he said, ‘we are the federal law. We are the federal law,’” Healey stated. “I heard somebody who thinks he’s king.”
Healey pledged on the finish of January to work with Trump the place it benefited Massachusetts but additionally to “stand up for the interests of Massachusetts residents, of our businesses, of our economy when the federal administration and President Trump do something that hurts us.”
However within the weeks for the reason that assembly with Blair, Healey has ramped up her criticism of the Trump administration within the wake of widespread efforts to slash federal funding that states depend on and cut back the dimensions of the federal authorities.
Trump has additionally more and more focused Massachusetts over the state’s immigration insurance policies and alleged antisemitism at establishments of upper schooling, actions which have prompted Healey to fireside again on the Republican president.
“Sometimes I wonder if the Trump administration really understands what they’re doing. And you know, it is important that we educate members of the Trump administration and President Trump about the impact of things like cuts to medical research,” she stated earlier this week throughout a go to to Boston Kids’s Hospital.
Healey’s assembly with Blair on the White Home was not the one high-profile speak she had final month.
The governor held a lower than hour-long name with American Airways CEO Robert Isom on Feb. 4, in line with her calendar. The decision got here a couple of week after American Airways Flight 5342 and an Military helicopter collided midair in Washington D.C.
All 67 aboard each plane had been killed.
“The governor reached out to Robert Isom to express her sympathies and support following the crash, which claimed the lives of Massachusetts residents,” a spokesperson for Healey stated in response to a query concerning the name.
Six of the victims on the American Airways flight had been members of the Skating Membership of Boston — Spencer Lane, 16, Jinna Han, 13, and their moms Christine Lane and Jin Han. The Hans had been from Mansfield and the Lanes had been from Barrington, Rhode Island.
The victims additionally included coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov of Norwood.
Investigators probing the reason for the crash have stated the helicopter might have had inaccurate altitude readings simply earlier than the collision and the crew might not have heard vital directions from air site visitors controllers.
A spokesperson for American Airways confirmed that Healey supplied condolences to the airline’s workers who died within the crash.
Healey additionally held a lower than hour-long name on Feb. 28 with Air Drive Lt. Gen. Donna D. Shipton, who’s the commander of the Air Drive Life Cycle Administration Heart on the Wright-Patterson Air Drive Base in Ohio, in line with Healey’s February calendar.
Lt. Gen. Shipton is in control of “total life cycle management” for plane, engines, munitions, digital, laptop, community, cyber and agile fight assist programs, in line with the Air Drive. The middle she runs employs greater than 28,000 folks and has a $300 billion-plus finances, the navy stated.
A spokesperson for Healey stated the assembly was concerning the Massachusetts Navy Asset and Safety Technique Activity Drive, which is accountable for the six navy installations within the state.
“Gov. Healey is strongly committed to supporting military defense, installations, and infrastructure in Massachusetts, and our strong partnership with the federal government is key to that,” Healey’s spokesperson stated in an announcement.
