How Colorado’s Governor Turned the State Into Trump’s Battleground
President Trump told Governor Jared Polis to “rot in hell” on New Year’s Eve. Polis picked this fight. He appropriated $4 million specifically to sue the Trump administration, joined 49 lawsuits, refused cooperation at every turn, and rejected every attempt to resolve the Tina Peters standoff. Colorado didn’t have to be a battleground. Polis made it one.
The consequences are piling up. NCAR dismantled — 830 jobs and the world’s leading climate research center. Space Command relocated to Alabama. FEMA disaster relief denied for fire and flood victims. The Arkansas Valley Conduit vetoed. Federal grants terminated totaling $787 million. Rural communities that voted for Trump in all three elections now pay the price for Polis’s political posturing.
Some Colorado Republicans welcome Trump’s response. Sean Paige, spokesman for Republican state lawmakers, told the New York Times that conservatives in the state were so frustrated with one-party Democratic rule they actually welcomed some of Trump’s moves. That’s what happens when a governor prioritizes national profile over constituent service.
The provocation started before Trump took office. Colorado’s Supreme Court tried to remove Trump from the ballot in 2024. Attorney General Phil Weiser has filed 49 lawsuits against the administration — more than any state except California. Secretary of State Jena Griswold rejected Justice Department requests to share voter information. When Trump offered to move Peters to federal custody as a compromise, Polis refused. When Trump issued a pardon, Polis’s administration said it had no legal effect.
The legislature funded this war. HB25-1321 shifted $4 million from the state’s infrastructure fund directly into Polis’s office to wage legal and administrative battles against the federal government. The bill gave Polis sweeping discretion to hire outside legal teams and launch lawsuits. Critics called it a partisan power grab disguised as state sovereignty. The same budget that appropriated $4 million for lawsuits cut $71.4 million from multimodal transportation, eliminated the $28.8 million Electrifying School Buses Grant Fund, and zeroed out the $13 million State Employee Reserve Fund. Polis funds lawyers. He does not fund replacement programs for terminated federal grants.
Polis is positioning for a possible 2028 presidential race. He’s terms out in January 2027 — a governor with nowhere to go but up. The confrontation strategy builds name recognition in a Democratic primary field that will reward resistance credentials. Colorado absorbs the federal retaliation while Polis builds a national brand. The $787 million in lost grants, the NCAR jobs, the denied disaster relief — acceptable losses for a governor betting his political future on anti-Trump positioning.
The Peters case sits at the center of the standoff. A 73-year-old Gold Star mother serving nine years for allowing unauthorized access during a voting system software update. Federal Magistrate Judge Scott Varholak wrote that “without question” Peters raises important constitutional questions about whether the trial court punished her more severely because of her protected First Amendment speech. The sentencing judge explicitly considered her refusal to recant her views as an aggravating factor. When Peters wins her appeal, the entire prosecution collapses — and with it, any pretense that Colorado administered justice rather than political punishment.
District Attorney Dan Rubinstein prosecuted the case. Trump called him “disgusting.” Rubinstein was appointed by Governor Hickenlooper in 2015 — the only applicant for the position. The same Hickenlooper now serves as Senator pushing federal water projects Trump just vetoed. Rubinstein built his career on this prosecution. He called Peters a “charlatan” at sentencing and recommended the maximum. If the appeal succeeds, Rubinstein becomes the prosecutor who imprisoned a 73-year-old grandmother for First Amendment-protected speech. That’s his legacy now.
The double standard defines Colorado’s election enforcement. Secretary of State Griswold’s office posted voting system BIOS passwords for 34 counties online for four months in 2024. The same type of passwords cited in Peters’s indictment. Colorado statute makes publishing voting system passwords a Class 5 felony. Denver DA Beth McCann investigated Griswold’s office and concluded there were “no criminal violations.” The employee responsible “no longer works there.” Cost to taxpayers: $30,000. Criminal charges: zero. Peters challenged election security and got nine years. Griswold’s office actually compromised election security and got nothing. The enforcement pattern reveals the priority: punish dissent, protect the machine.
When FEMA denied disaster declarations, Polis immediately cried “political games” — but Colorado never released its Preliminary Damage Assessment documentation. The state’s submission may not have met Stafford Act thresholds. Other states facing FEMA denials released their documentation, challenged specific findings, and won reversals. Polis chose the press conference over the paperwork. The political attack on Trump served his 2028 positioning better than actually helping fire and flood victims would have.
Trump’s “rot in hell” was crude. It was also earned. When you appropriate $4 million to sue someone, join 49 lawsuits against them, refuse every compromise they offer, publicly defy them at every opportunity, and use every federal denial as a campaign ad for your presidential ambitions, you get exactly the response Polis received.
The question isn’t why Trump is angry at Colorado. The question is why Polis sacrificed Colorado’s interests to build his national brand.
Support Independent Local Journalism — High Country Advocate was created as a real alternative to regional media that too often silences dissenting voices while taking sides in the political struggle. Producing in-depth, unflinching reporting like this series and others is expensive: servers, editing, research time, and legal review all add up quickly. If these articles have informed you or given you new perspective, please consider supporting HCA with a paid subscription — every subscriber helps keep this reporting strong and independent. 