Gretchen Whitmer: I want to find ‘common ground’ with Donald Trump

• Whitmer talked tariffs with Trump this weekend and said she plans to continue the dialogue
• The Democratic governor has clashed with the Republican president but says ‘her job’ is to find ‘common ground.’
• Whitmer also praised Republican House Speaker Matt Hall for proposing a plan to fix Michigan’s roads

Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she is optimistic about working with President Donald Trump as well as Michigan Republicans, offering veiled criticism of legislators who have not offered solutions to road funding.

Whitmer missed the Michigan Democratic Party Convention on Saturday to eat dinner beside Trump in the White House at a reception with the National Governor’s Association.

Among the topics of conversation with Trump and his Cabinet members, Whitmer said: proposed tariffs; the possibility of a fighter jet mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and staffing at the new Gordie Howe International Bridge to Windsor.

She said she plans to continue the dialogue with Trump in the White House.

“If you're not in the room and you're not a part of the conversation, you can't assume your priorities are going to get met,” Whitmer told Bridge Michigan in a Sunday interview. 

“That's why I always show up, no matter who's in the White House. I think it's important to show up, and that's my job as governor.”

Whitmer told Bridge she didn’t talk to Trump about “any one project, per se.” Both the Detroit News and Free Press quoted the governor as saying they discussed economic development in Genesee County’s Mundy Township, where state officials have approved $250 million to prepare a mega site for advanced manufacturing.

Some liberals have expressed disappointment Whitmer has more vocal critiquing Trump's flurry of executive actions during his first month back in the White House.

Whitmer told Bridge that “I know that there will be times when we're not on the same page and we'll be at odds,” but said she is more interested in collaborating with Trump than fighting him.

“If I can find common ground, I'm going to do that” she said.

Whitmer spoke to Bridge days before her she is scheduled to deliver her sixth State of the State speech at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The conciliatory tone is a shift for the governor, who clashed with Trump during his first term. He called her “that woman from Michigan,” criticized her COVID-19 pandemic response and agreed with his followers’ chants that she should be imprisoned.

Whitmer had previously said Trump was “complicit” in a right-wing militia plot to kidnap her by stoking extremism. She wrote in The Atlantic that she and her family faced “a surge of vicious attacks” whenever he publicly attacked her.

Earlier in the week Trump reappointed Whitmer to the bipartisan Council of Governors, a federal body that advises agencies on national security issues.

Speaking to Bridge, Whitmer also offered praise for Republican House Speaker Matt Hall’s willingness to negotiate on a long-term funding plan for Michigan roads. 

“I finally have a legislative leader who has said he's serious about doing something here,” Whitmer said of Hall, promising to negotiate to see if they can achieve a workable compromise.

A 45-cent gas tax increase proposed in Whitmer’s first yet in office never left the starting line. In 2020, she unilaterally issued $3.5 billion in state debt to cover road repairs. That money is close to running out.

Hall and House Republicans put forward a road funding proposal toward the end of last year, and Whitmer recently provided her own $3 billion blueprint for road funds, though it lacked some key details.

Whitmer’s comments came following two years with Democrats in full control of state government, which could have provided her party with broad latitude to craft a road-funding plan. 

No plan was ever seriously entertained by lawmakers and Whitmer made no suggestions of her own.

“There's only two people who've had the guts and brains to put a plan out,” Whitmer said. “Frankly, it's Speaker Matt Hall and me.”

Hall in turn has said he has a “good relationship” with Whitmer and the governor has always been available to him when he’s reached out.

Still, Whitmer chalked up new motivation to make a deal not to timing, not the leaders in charge.

“It's very clear that we are near the funding cliff,” Whitmer said. “More legislators are starting to really appreciate … that we all have a duty to solve the problem.”

There’s considerable distance between their two plans.

Whitmer is seeking tax increases on corporations and marijuana retailers, while Hall would use existing revenues, including emptying a fund championed by Whitmer to lure big-scale projects to Michigan.