Gretchen Whitmer goes to Washington with a call for bipartisanship to grow the economy
WASHINGTON — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer laid out what she called a “consistent national strategy” for bringing manufacturing back to the United States in a lengthy speech Wednesday in the nation's capital, just hours after President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the U.S.’ largest trading partners went into effect.
WASHINGTON — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer laid out what she called a “consistent national strategy” for bringing manufacturing back to the United States in a lengthy speech Wednesday in the nation's capital, just hours after President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the U.S.’ largest trading partners went into effect.
After highlighting her work in Michigan to boost manufacturing, the second-term Democrat told attendees: “Here’s my pitch: Let’s keep going. Let’s make more ships, planes and semiconductor chips in America. Let’s cut red tape and unleash the extraordinary potential of American industry.”
“Let’s give more hard-working people a fair shot at a decent life. And let’s usher in, as President Trump says, a 'Golden Age' of American manufacturing,” Whitmer added.
The speech was a notable political foray outside Michigan for a Democrat seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, though Whitmer brushed off a question after the speech about any future political ambitions. She focused not only on policy goals but broadly on the idea of re-establishing trust and the ability to work across party lines, at a time when rank-and-file Democrats are looking for the party to fight Trump harder. She referred to partisanship like a disease, telling attendees, “Partisanship seems to have infected every aspect of our lives and it’s exhausting."
The way Whitmer handled Trump also stood out, mentioning the president more than a handful of times — first criticizing his tariff plan but later highlighting the work he did during his first term to achieve what she called their shared goals.
Rating: 5