Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro says he and Trump 'agreed to stay in touch' during phone call

Ford Turner, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Apr 22, 2025

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HARRISBURG, Pa. — Gov. Josh Shapiro on Tuesday said he and President Donald Trump "agreed to stay in touch" at the end of a phone call in which Shapiro filled in the president on details of the April 13 arson attack on the Governor's Residence.

Shapiro spoke to reporters after a children's Easter egg hunt on the lawn just outside the fire-damaged portion of the 29,000-square-foot residence. It had been closed to the public since the arson attack. Shapiro said his conversation with Trump at mid-morning on Saturday went beyond inquiries about Shapiro's family and the fire.

"We talked about for maybe the next 15 minutes or so about a whole host of other topics. Obviously I am not going to get into our private conversation here," Shapiro said. "He is in tune to the issues that are important to me. I of course know the issues that are important to him. And we agreed to stay in touch."

Shapiro, a Democrat, said he appreciated the call from the Republican president. Nonetheless, when asked about the president's tariffs policy, Shapiro was critical.

Referring to job losses at an Eastern Pennsylvania truck-building plant, Shapiro said the company "is being harmed by these tariffs." He said, "I hope the president is able to rethink, readjust his tariff policy in order to bring more certainty to the marketplace and allow our companies to have the confidence they need to invest capital."

Concerning the fire-damaged residence, Shapiro said the Department of General Services was leading repairs and restoration that he hopes will be finished as soon as possible. Shapiro said he hoped to actually return to sleep in the residence within the week.

And, he said, he would be comfortable doing so. "I am not going to live in fear," he said.

In a separate development Tuesday, the governor's office said in a news release the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved a settlement of a complaint filed by the Shapiro administration against PJM Interconnection, the organization that coordinates the electrical grid in Pennsylvania and 12 other states.

The agreement involves a new approach to capacity auctions held by PJM. Shapiro said it would save consumers billions of dollars.

The fire-damaged Governor's Residence was visited by the top executive and curators from the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission early last week, a PHMC spokesperson said in an email. No historical items were destroyed, no original works were affected, and only one state-owned historic artifact — a tall wall clock — sustained minor heat damage, the spokesperson said.

Most of the material from a temporary exhibit called "A Common Canvas: Pennsylvania's New Deal Post Office Murals" was lost in the fire, but they were only reproductions and the exhibit can be recreated, the spokesperson said.

The man accused of the arson attack, 38-year-old Cody Balmer of the Harrisburg area, will face a preliminary hearing next month on charges of attempted homicide, arson, terrorism and other offenses.

Officials said the perpetrator got past the perimeter fence, broke windows and used bottles filled with gasoline to set the fires in the middle of night before fleeing. Shapiro and others who were asleep upstairs were alerted to the fire by state police.

Pennsylvania State Police said they have retained independent security consultant Jeffrey B. Miller to conduct a security review of the premises. Miller is a former state police commissioner who led the agency for six years. He also has been senior vice president and chief security officer for the National Football League and a member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

The two most severely damaged rooms — including the state dining room — will be torn down to the bricks and studs and be rebuilt, Shapiro said. He said the building would be ready to accommodate state budget-related meetings.

The deadline for a 2025-26 state budget is June 30.

A key issue for Pittsburgh is mass transit funding, with Pittsburgh Regional Transit planning a 35% cut in services early next year unless the state comes up with more money for transit systems. On Tuesday, Shapiro said the key Republican at the budget negotiating table — Senate majority leader Joe Pittman of Indiana County — has said he would agree to more transit money if it is accompanied by more money for road and bridge work.

"I have said for two years now that I welcome adding funding for roads and bridges," Shapiro said. "I hope in this budget we will have a robust plan to invest in mass transit all across the state, along with roads and bridges."

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