BURSTPresident Trump offered a compliment to Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer during a stop at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in her state on Tuesday.
“For decades, they’ve been trying to save this facility … including your governor, who has done a very good job. She came to see me. That’s the reason she came to see me, by the way, to save Selfridge. She was very effective,” Trump said in remarks before the Michigan National Guard, announcing new fighter jets for the base.
Trump's rare praise for a Democrat came just a couple of weeks after Whitmer took heat from both sides of the aisle for a White House visit earlier this month, her second since the inauguration. One of the topics she aimed to discuss with Trump during that trip was funding for Selfridge.
A photo of Whitmer, whom Trump had invited into the Oval Office during an executive order signing, went viral and spotlighted the tricky terrain of Democrats’ working relationship with the president.
“You know, I’m not supposed to do that,” Trump said on Tuesday after thanking Whitmer for bringing the base “to our attention very strongly.”
“She’s a Democrat. They say: ‘Don’t do that, don’t have her here.’ I said no, she’s got to be here. She’s done a very good job, frankly.”
Trump invited Whitmer to speak at the podium after his remarks.
"Well, I hadn't planned to speak, but on behalf of all the military men and women who serve our country and serve so honorably on behalf of the state of Michigan, I am really damn happy we're here to celebrate this recapitalization at Selfridge,” Whitmer said.
Without directly thanking Trump, Whitmer said she was “grateful that this announcement was made today” and appreciated the work that had been done.
Michigan, with a big automaker industry and a border with Canada, has been rocked by Trump’s dramatic tariff moves.
Trump's visit to Michigan is his first to the battleground state, which he flipped red in November, since the election. He's set to stop by Macomb County’s Community College Sports Expo Center and hold a rally later on Tuesday to celebrate the 100-day benchmark of his second term.
A spokesperson for Whitmer's office said the governor was at Selfridge "to support her troops and the longstanding effort she has made to secure support" for the base, stressing that "she will not be at the rally."