At White House Whitmer said she sought meeting with Trump, talked tariffs

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer sat next to President Donald Trump at the White House for the National Governors Association dinner Saturday, providing her an opportunity she said to lay out Michigan’s priorities as she mingled with his cabinet members and talked tariffs with Trump.

Some Democratic governors have positioned themselves as leaders of the resistance to Trump’s second term. But Whitmer — who campaigned against Trump last year — has taken a different approach, saying she wants to find common ground with his administration.

“I took an oath of office to the people of Michigan, and it means putting Michigan’s interests above my own or above my political party’s interests,” Whitmer told the Free Press Sunday. “You can’t have a conversation about things that matter if you’re not in the room.”

At the White House gathering this weekend, Whitmer said, she talked with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth about a fighter mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about staffing commitments at the Gordie Howe International Bridge.

Whitmer said Trump called her about a week ago and invited her to meet at the White House. She said she took the opportunity Saturday to talk about those plans.

“I said, ‘You’ve invited me to come and meet with you. I would like to do that because I’d like to talk to you about a number of things,'” she said.

She’s not sure how quickly a meeting might be scheduled, but the items she said she wants to discuss include a major economic development project in the works in Genesee County’s Mundy Township.

Michigan economic development officials have already approved $250 million to prepare the Genesee County advanced manufacturing megasite. Whitmer wouldn’t say whether the project depends on landing federal funding too.

State Rep. Jasper Martus, D-Flushing, whose district neighbors Mundy Township, told reporters last month the Mundy Township plans await a green light from the federal government, and expressed disappointment that didn’t happen during former President Joe Biden’s administration.

“For me whose district is one street away from this, the idea that ten thousand plus jobs could be created in Genesee after decades and decades of underinvestment, I will put a construction hat on whoever’s president to land this deal,” he said Jan. 13.

While Whitmer reiterated her openness to working with the Trump administration, she also expressed concerns about what she’s seen so far. That includes proposed tariffs she said would acutely hurt Michigan. She also expressed concerns about freezing National Institutes of Health grants and federal job cuts.

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“I understand wanting to find efficiencies in government. We always want to do that,” she said. But she said she’s worried about the federal workers laid off and the potentially far-reaching impacts of job cuts on Americans.

“So all of this is concerning, and that’s why I think it’s really important that I continue to have a seat at the table and be able to raise this and if I can help inform better decisions, I’m going to take every opportunity to do that,” Whitmer said.

Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Whitmer talked tariffs with Trump, White House meeting

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