Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro said President Donald Trump called him to offer 'warm regards' nearly a week after arson attack

Gillian McGoldrick and Ximena Conde, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Apr 21, 2025

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HARRISBURG, Pa. — Nearly a week after an arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in Harrisburg while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were inside, President Donald Trump called Shapiro to share his “warm regards,” Shapiro said Monday.

Shapiro — whose family and extended family had been sleeping in the governor’s residence following a Passover celebration when a 38-year-old man broke into a wing of the 29,000-square-foot home and started several fires — said Trump called him on Saturday to wish him and his family well following the harrowing experience.

“We spoke for quite a bit of time,” Shapiro said at a news conference in Pittsburgh on Monday, where he advocated for more funding for first responders. “I appreciated his call very much, and we agreed to stay in touch.”

During the call, Shapiro said he and Trump also discussed the proposed sale of Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel to Japanese company Nippon Steel, Shapiro added.

Shapiro, as a Democratic governor leading one of the nation’s most critical swing states that voted for Trump, has been walking a political tightrope in the first few months of Trump’s second term. He has said he will work with Trump when it’s in the best interest of Pennsylvanians, but will challenge him when necessary. So far, Shapiro has sued the Trump administration three times over federal funding freezes or cuts, arguing that the federal government has broken its contracts with the state that were already approved by Congress.

Shapiro, who quickly condemned the assassination attempt against Trump at a campaign rally in Western Pennsylvania last year after a bullet skimmed Trump’s ear, then used similar language to condemn political violence.

After Trump was shot in July 2024, Shapiro said: “Violence targeted at any political party or political leader is absolutely unacceptable. It has no place in Pennsylvania or the United States.”

Last week, appearing before the broken and charred windows of the governor’s residence along the Susquehanna River, Shapiro echoed the same sentiment: “I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other, directed at one particular party or another, or one person or another. It is not OK, and it has to stop.”

In the hours following the arson attack, Shapiro said last week that FBI Director Kash Patel contacted him, and “was extremely kind and courteous and thoughtful in his conversation with me.” Shapiro also thanked Trump and federal authorities for supporting state police in the investigation.

Trump — who previously attacked Shapiro on social media, and claimed the governor’s Jewish faith was why Shapiro was not chosen to be former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate — briefly addressed the arson attack while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office last week, saying “a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen.”

The president’s remarks were in response to a question from a reporter who asked if he had been made aware of a potential motive, given federal investigators are assisting in the probe.

“No, I haven’t,” Trump responded, “but the attacker was not a fan of Trump, I understand, just from what I’ve read and from what I’ve been told. The attacker basically wasn’t a fan of anybody.”

Cody Balmer, who has been charged with attempted homicide and other offenses in the attack and who police said was “harboring a hatred” for Shapiro, did not seem to have a specific political leaning on social media. He had not been taking his medication for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, members of his family said.

In a call to 911 shortly after the arson, Balmer allegedly told dispatchers that the governor needs to be told he “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people.” Sounding out of breath, Balmer also told the dispatcher that the governor needed to leave his friends and family alone.

The White House declined to comment Monday.

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