Gretchen Whitmer Says She Isn’t Looking For A Fight … Yet

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Few Democrats have gotten as much attention for fighting Donald Trump as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, whose battles with the former and future president during the COVID-19 pandemic first vaulted her onto the national stage.

But with Trump’s inauguration just days away, Whitmer plans to send a public message that she’s willing to work with him ― at least if he’s willing to work with her, and depending on what he actually tries to do.

The message will come on Wednesday morning, when Whitmer gives a speech focusing on economic policy at the annual Detroit Auto Show. It will include a clear warning that the tariffs Trump has proposed could hurt the auto industry more than they help, by disrupting supply lines across the Canadian border, raising the prices of raw materials and triggering a trade war that would diminish exports.

But the speech will also include a recognition that Trump carried her state in the November election ― and that, in Whitmer’s view, the voters “expect us to find common ground” on solving everyday problems. “I don’t want to pretend we’ll always get along,” Whitmer will say, according to excerpts her staff shared with HuffPost, “but I will always seek collaboration first.”

Exactly what those words will mean in practice is hard to say, especially given that the prepared text also includes a promise that Whitmer “won’t back down” from political battles. But the speech comes in the middle of a contentious debate among Democrats over whether to fight ― and, if so, how hard ― over everything from aggressive Republican immigration proposals to Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees.

In a brief telephone interview on Tuesday, Whitmer acknowledged that broader debate taking place among Democrats and said her remarks place her “somewhere in the middle” of it.

“I’ve had outreach from some of my colleagues who are fighting, taking up that mantra, and I said, ‘You know, listen, Michigan is very different, and my job is to deliver for the people of Michigan, and my ability to do that requires that I have the opportunity to work with the new administration,’” Whitmer said. “I care about getting stuff done, and finding common ground is a better way to do it than starting from a war footing.”

Whitmer’s thoughts on these matters are of particular interest because she has won two convincing victories in her politically divided, electorally vital state. Lots of activists, funders and officials think she might make a strong presidential candidate if she decides to run in 2028 ― although Whitmer, to be clear, says she is focused strictly on how to govern now that Republicans are taking control of one house of the Michigan Legislature, as well as the White House and Congress.

“I know that there are a lot of folks out there jockeying to be the leader of the opposition ― that’s not me,” Whitmer said, adding, “My first job is to see if I can find partners and find collaboration, and that’s what I’m out to do. The people of Michigan elected Donald Trump twice, they elected me twice, both within two years of each other. And here we are.”

That Whitmer would stake out this position isn’t entirely surprising given her own political history. Republicans have controlled at least one of the state’s legislative chambers (and usually both) for most of her 20-plus years in state politics, and during that time she has frequently talked up the virtues of compromise.

Her biggest achievement as a state senator was working with Michigan’s then-Republican governor to pass a bill that expanded the state’s Medicaid program. When she first became governor, she focused on reforming auto insurance and “fixing the damn roads,” in both cases by negotiating with Republicans who had majorities in both houses.

But while the auto insurance package came together, the road funding deal didn’t. And then the pandemic hit. When both Trump and Michigan Republicans attacked her over public health orders, she fought back over the GOP politicizing the crisis and, in Trump’s case, providing insufficient help from Washington.

Two years later, she took up another fight ― this time, for reproductive freedom. After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Whitmer acted quickly to protect abortion rights in Michigan while campaigning for a ballot initiative to make those protections permanent ― reminding voters, all along, that without Trump’s appointments to the high court, Roe would still be law.

In the interview, Whitmer suggested she was willing to put past acrimony aside if there are places where she and the new White House can work together. “I’ve been in this situation before,” she said, referring to collaborations with Republicans in her state.

Among the issues on which that might come into play is the future of electric vehicle subsidies, which are a big deal to Michigan’s auto industry.

Trump has promised to repeal what he’s been calling the “EV mandate,” claiming it’s pushing American manufacturers away from more profitable lines of business. Whitmer, during the 2024 presidential campaign, repeatedly blasted Trump for that position, arguing that taking away the support would undermine the boom in EV factory construction and employment ― and put American companies at a disadvantage globally while China and the rest of the world move toward electrification.

When asked whether she saw the EV debate as a place to oppose Trump more strongly, she reiterated her belief that backing electric vehicle production is necessary to keep Detroit’s manufacturers competitive. But she also described the situation as “an opportunity for education.”

“Education” seems to be the approach she’s taking on another issue of vital interest to automakers ― namely, Trump’s promise to impose steep tariffs on all imported goods. Whitmer, in her remarks, plans to say that she’s “not opposed to tariffs outright” while warning that such a broad change could backfire, especially the efforts to target Canada.

“Think about this: 70% of all the auto parts we make in Michigan go directly to our neighbors,” Whitmer plans to say. “Every time a Michigan auto part crosses over the border and gets taxed, those costs will be passed on to you at the dealership. Sometimes it happens a couple times throughout production. That means you’ll pay more to buy a Silverado, fix the engine in your Mustang or replace the fender on your Jeep Grand Cherokee.”

When it comes to immigration ― perhaps the issue most central to Trump’s presidential campaign ― Whitmer said didn’t want to “draw red lines” publicly about what kinds of Trump moves might prompt her to protest loudly or to refuse state cooperation, as some other local and state officials have already threatened. One reason, she said, is that she’s waiting to see how aggressively Trump acts once he actually assumes office.

“We’ve done a lot of planning for a variety of scenarios,” Whitmer said. “We also know that candidates say things on the campaign trail and then sometimes it’s different from what they do once they take office. I’m not suggesting that it should be underappreciated how serious they are. I’m saying we don’t know what they’re going to do until they get there.”

But Whitmer added that, in gaming out the possibilities of how she might respond to mass deportations and other actions, “I take very seriously the use of state resources and fundamental rights of human beings.”

Whitmer also pledged to fight any further attacks on reproductive rights, citing the overwhelming approval for state protections by Michigan’s voters in 2022. And she said she intends to continue speaking out on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, citing not only a recently enacted state law enshrining those rights but also her feelings as a parent.

“As the mom of a gay woman, I can tell you that getting Michigan on the right side of the law was really one of the things I’m most proud of from the last two years, and this is something I take very seriously,” Whitmer said.

Asked about the potential conflict between finding common ground with Trump and his allies on some issues while pledging to resist their efforts on others, Whitmer said, “I can do both.”