Ducey to Trump: Republicans need to take back the White House

• The meeting at Trump Tower is the first time Ducey will meet the real-estate mogul
• Trump is scheduled to hold a rally on June 18 in Arizona

Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey met Tuesday with presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.

Ducey, who was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for Western Governors' Association meetings Tuesday, traveled to Trump Tower for the gathering, which included several governors.

The meeting lasted about 45 minutes, said Daniel Scarpinato, Ducey's spokesman.

Ducey has tepidly issued his support to the winner of the GOP nomination, and has maintained his distance as Trump has made three campaign appearances in Arizona over the past 12 months.

During their meeting Tuesday, "Governor Ducey shared that his goal is to keep Arizona in the Republican column, in the presidential race, the U.S. Senate, House races and the state Legislature," Scarpinato wrote in a statement to The Arizona Republic.

"He let Donald Trump know that Arizona has one of the best-run state parties in the country, with Robert Graham as chairman. It’s been 20 years since a Democrat presidential candidate (named Clinton) won Arizona, and Governor Ducey wants to keep it that way," Scarpinato wrote.

Ducey joined an envoy of Republican governors, including Tennessee's Bill Haslam, New Jersey's Chris Christie and Oklahoma's Mary Fallin, according to CBS News. He was invited by Tennessee Governor Haslam, former chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Scarpinato said.

Scarpinato did not answer how Ducey views Trump's controversial stances on Muslims, illegal immigrants, women, and a federal judge overseeing lawsuits involving Trump University.

For months, when Ducey was asked about Trump’s remarks about banning Muslim immigrants to the U.S., about immigrants being rapists and criminals, or if he would back him as the GOP nominee, Ducey brushed the questions aside. After Trump began to dominate the GOP primary, the governor refused to say who he’d back for president and appeared to deliberately avoid saying Trump’s name.

Ducey eventually said he would support the GOP nominee, and urged Republicans to unify to ensure Republicans win the White House.

Wes Gullett, a Republican consultant who served as deputy campaign manager for Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain during his 2000 bid for the GOP presidential nomination, said Ducey “is being smart” about how he addresses Trump’s candidacy.

“You have a candidate like Donald Trump who comes in as an interloper then expects everybody to get in line behind the nominee and it doesn’t work that way,” Gullett said. “That’s why people work their way through the process.”

Gullett said Ducey is smart to sidestep questions about Trump’s controversial remarks — and to meet with him in New York away from the Arizona electorate’s eye.

“I think he’s seen what (Speaker) Paul Ryan’s been going through — it’s an an old civil war axiom about keeping your powder dry,” Gullett said. “You’re going to have to use it at some point, but it’s no good if it’s soaking wet. I think it’s important that Republican leaders talk to Donald Trump, and share their concerns and aspirations with them, but I don’t know that it’s necessarily required that everybody be a Donald Trump cheerleader.”

At the state GOP convention in April, Ducey delivered fiery remarks about the need to put a Republican in the White House and to put Democratic presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton "in the Big House."

“I am going to be supporting the Republican nominee for president,” he said at the time. “I’m looking forward to going back to Cleveland to have all the healthy debate that’s necessary in our process and then electing a Republican to the White House in November.”

The governor will lead the state's delegation to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. And he recently defended New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez when Trump criticized her performance.

By contrast, Jeff DeWit is Trump's Arizona campaign chair and has appeared on national cable news shows more than 90 times to tout Trump's business record and counter attacks on Trump. Last week, for example, DeWit was at Trump headquarters in New York for campaign events.

"As the first elected official in the country to support Donald Trump, I'm always happy to see more endorsements come on board," DeWit said. "Sheriff Joe Arpaio and (former) Governor Jan Brewer have supported Trump for many months, and I've been hoping to add Doug Ducey's name to that list."

Since the state GOP convention, DeWit has been critical of the "close" relationship DeWit says Ducey allies have with those of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. At the time, DeWit suggested Cruz supporters, with the help of Ducey allies, mounted an effort to send more pro-Cruz delegates than pro-Trump delegates.

"... If Ducey is ready to finally get on the Trump train, we have a seat for him. I would call on him to endorse Trump before this weekend's Arizona visit. I think that unity would be great for the Republican Party."

The meeting between the governors and Trump comes as the real-estate mogul is scheduled to return to Arizona as part of a cross-country campaign swing. He is to appear at a Valley fundraiser on June 18, and will hold a rally later in the day.