Dear Gov. Mills,

Oh, to be inside your head when President Donald Trump looked out at you and the other governors in the White House dining room and asked, “Is Maine here? The governor of Maine?”

We’ve long grown accustomed to watching intelligent men and women, people we thought had backbones, quake in such moments. Trump’s trail is littered with political luminaries who once opposed him and now fall at his feet — not because they respect him, but because they’re scared to death of him.

Not you, Gov. Mills. You told him yes, you were there. In reply to his question on whether Maine would comply with his executive order pulling the playing field out from under transgender student athletes, you told him you planned to follow state and federal law.

And when he told you he was the federal law, and Maine would get no federal educational funding unless you bent to his will, you matter-of-factly replied, “See you in court.”

The 30-second exchange has been called “tense” by some, “heated” by others. But that’s not what I saw.

What I witnessed was a woman of courage calmly and pointedly standing up to a bully. And for that, in these worrisome times, I thank Maine’s lucky stars that you’re our governor.

In another time and place, most Americans wouldn’t have cared a whit what the governor of Maine had to say at a largely staged confab between the president and the states’ chief executives. But in this time and this place, to publicly take on Trump is to invoke not only his wrath, but also that of his MAGA supporters who blindly and blissfully cheer him on — even as he chips away at the underpinnings of their everyday lives.

As you said in a statement following the exchange, this is about far more than the politics swirling around transgender athletes. And while you stood tall aligning yourself with the anti-discrimination protections accorded those athletes under the Maine Human Rights Act, we all know that it’s not the Democrats continually throwing gas on this cultural fire. It’s Trump and his Republicans, eager to keep the citizenry angry at something, anything, as long as it distracts us all from what’s really going on behind that curtain.

“Do not be misled,” you said in your statement. “This is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a President can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”

Law-abiding Americans everywhere pray that you’re right. This and so much more will indeed end up, inevitably, before the U.S. Supreme Court. A court stacked in Trump’s favor, to be sure, but nevertheless the republic’s last bastion of defense against a man who, as you correctly note, “is neither a king nor a dictator,” much as he tries to act like it.

Meanwhile, the retribution begins. The federal departments of education and agriculture have already launched “investigations” into Maine’s schools and university system.

Anyone care to bet how those will turn out?

I doubt it will stop there. I half expect the next headline to announce that, in exchange for any and all federal funding, Maine must fork over half of its lobster harvest to the White House commissary.

I also can’t help but chuckle at those who have come down with the vapors over your willingness to speak truth to so clear an abuse of power. Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, a Republican, fretted that “it was a little uncomfortable in the room.” And Gov. Jared Polis of Colorado, a Democrat who heads the National Governors Association, said, “I encourage everybody to get together and work it out.”

Seriously? Are these guys living under a rock? Or are they simply petrified that when Trump is done with Maine he’ll find some reason to go after them?

Those of us who have known you for decades, Gov. Mills, were in no way surprised by your refusal to grovel. Over your long and distinguished career in public service, you’ve never shied from speaking your mind plainly and clearly — even when it’s come with a political cost.

Nor can it be said Maine went looking for this fight. When 14 states filed a lawsuit earlier this month against Trump and the chainsaw-wielding Elon Musk over the latter’s arbitrary dismantling of entire federal departments “with the click of a mouse,” we held our fire.

The simple truth is that Trump set you up. He publicly demanded your fealty. What he got instead was your refusal, under the brightest of spotlights, to so much as flinch.

In these dark days of winter, each of us must decide for ourselves how much to tune in, or tune out. How quietly we should pray, or how loudly we should protest. How far our democracy can bend before it breaks.

Leadership matters in these moments. Not the kind that barks at people to stop asking questions and fall in line. Rather, the kind that compels us to do what we know deep down is morally and legally sound — and to actively resist that which isn’t.

To your credit, Gov. Mills, you showed that kind of leadership during your White House visit. And much to our collective benefit, the whole world was watching.

Keep it up. You’re doing Maine proud.