Trump & Whitmer: Michigan governor discusses shifting relationship

And Governor Gretchen Whitmer joins us now on The Pulse and it's so good to see you. Thanks for joining us on the show. Thank you, it's good to be with you. So Governor, it's gonna start with a question that everyone has on their mind which is you went from that woman from Michigan just a few years back to she's a very good woman, she's done a terrific job, all of these really good superlative compliments from the president, what gives? I'm that same woman from Michigan I don't know, listen, my job is to fight for the people of Michigan whether it is in the midst of a pandemic when I'm getting threats or it is trying to get a fighter mission recapitalized at Selfridge and going to the Oval Office to get it done under the Trump administration. My North Star is the people of Michigan and I'm really pleased that we were able to get this massive investment at Selfridge. It's such a big deal for the Michigan economy and for our men and women in uniform at Selfridge. Yeah and listen, I want to talk a little bit more about Selfridge in a moment because that really is what today's big story is about but because people are so curious and because it matters to people we're gonna ask you the question about this relationship. There's so many people out there who say that these relationships between Democrats and Republicans, we need to repair something here because there just is such a fractured relationship and we need to do what's best for people. Working with a Republican president like President Donald Trump, what does that mean for you? Well it's complicated, right? I mean I understand why people are curious how on earth did you know this come about but you know I was raised in a household my dad was a Millican Republican, my mom was a Democrat. I've always tried to cross the aisle. I've worked well with leaders when I was in the legislature on both sides of the aisle. You know Michiganders are not all Republicans or not all Democrats or not all independents but we are all people who deserve leaders who are doing their best to serve us to make sure that you know we can live our version of the American dream right here in this great state. So that's what I've always tried to do. I seek collaboration first. I don't look for fights. I don't back down from them either and there are important fights that we must have but where we can get something done I'm always gonna be an eager participant. Now we understand that the president is essentially easing up on those 25% tariffs on the auto industry. Speak about that for a moment. That is a big deal for so many of us here in this state. It is. You know I remain concerned that there's so much uncertainty and we know that uncertainty breeds paralysis. It's hard to get an individual to make an investment in uncertain times much less a company that is making decades-long decisions and and that impacts jobs. So I was glad to see a little change in their policy with regard to the you know automotive industry but I remain concerned if these policies change daily weekly or monthly it still creates that uncertainty and we've already seen some people be laid off. We've seen consumers prices go up and so this this chaotic tariff policy I think is is really damaging. So while today is you know a good sign that they're listening certainty and predictability are really really important and and the chaos is costly. What does it mean for Selfridge to have these fighter admissions come in like they did today and this announcement and is it a complete done deal or is it tied to any bills that are out there in Washington that we have to wait for? I know the president said it's a done deal and I'm gonna take that to the bank. We know that the A-10 which is the primary fighter mission that we have at Selfridge is scheduled to be retired. They're just phenomenal planes but they are being retired and there had not been a decision to recapitalize and so we were really worried about Selfridge. Selfridge is the linchpin to so much of our defense work and our aerospace industry that is growing advanced manufacturing is the linchpin to Alpena, Grayling and Battle Creek the other bases that we have and so this was a really important thing. It's why I've been working on it you know every year I've been governor trying to get this recapitalized. So this announcement today of 21 F-15EXs. This is the most cutting-edge plane. It is going to be flying out of Selfridge in Macomb County, Michigan and it will secure it's like a generational investment that will be secured because of it and will continue to grow our aerospace sector. So this is great news not just for us today but for Michigan for the long term and for our economy at large. When you know that this has been something that's been efforted for so many years by Senator Gary Peters, by yourself, by Candace Miller, so many. Why now and did you give credit to President Trump? Absolutely. I think the president and the president my first conversation with him after his taking office and in this this term I brought up Selfridge when I was at the White House for a black-tie dinner back in February. I talked to Secretary Hegseth about it. I talked to President Trump. I sat at his table. I've had many meetings with him since as well as phone calls and every time I'm promoting Selfridge and it's not just that conversation but I think that that was impactful and they took a serious look and saw what a compelling reason it was to make sure that this investment happened in Macomb County, Michigan. Governor you had such a good relationship with the former president we even co-chairing his campaign. You were friends with President Biden. Why didn't it happen then and what do you think changed? Do you think there was more of an effort by a Republican president to support the military? Well listen you know what I can't tell you what's going on in anyone else's mind. I can just tell you our effort has been sustained. It has been relentless and it has paid off. Well Governor Gretchen Whitmer we thank you for your time here on The Pulse. I guess I just want to ask you one final question. This decorum that we're seeing between the president and you, what are you hopeful for? What will this mean moving forward for others out there as well? Well I'm hopeful that I've got a long list group as you know and I'm hopeful that this means we can get the Army Corps of Engineers to do their work to prevent Asian carp from getting into Lake Michigan. I'm hopeful that we will get the emergency declaration and get resources to help people who are victims of the ice storm in northern Michigan from last month. I am hopeful that we can get a big economic development project that I've been working on over the finish line with partnership from the federal government. So I got a long list. It'll only grow but the more we can check off the better for the people of Michigan so that's that's what I'm gonna stay focused on.