Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) tempered her rhetoric toward President Donald Trump during a high-profile speech after marking herself as one of his harshest critics last year.
As she delivered her annual State of the State address from Michigan‘s capitol on Wednesday, Whitmer told legislators she hoped “to find common ground” with Trump.
“Yes, I do hope to find common ground with President Trump and work with the [state] Democratic-led Senate and Republican-led House on our shared priorities,” the governor said. “I took an oath of office to serve the people of Michigan, and that means all the people of Michigan. That’s my commitment to you, no matter who is in the White House or who is on the other side of the aisle in Lansing.”
Whitmer’s words echo similar remarks in January and come after she emerged as one of Trump’s most ardent foes in 2024 as he campaigned to win a second term. At the time, the Michigan governor backed Trump’s chief rival, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and often slammed the then-Republican presidential nominee as she stumped for his opponent.
“We know that tough times reveal your true character. Donald Trump has shown us that he is incapable of handling the crisis. He is a petty man who tells dangerous lies and is always looking for someone else to blame,” she said during a Grand Rapids campaign rally for Harris last October. “Donald Trump cares about himself and only about himself, and he will say whatever he thinks he needs to to get elected, and as president, he will leave us behind just like he did before in Michigan.”
During a subsequent Detroit rally, Whitmer characterized Trump as someone who would “take our freedoms away.” And at a Flint campaign appearance for Harris days before the election, the Michigan governor warned the state “couldn’t afford another Donald Trump presidency.”
“On top of bad policy, I want to talk about his dangerous rhetoric as someone who’s been the target of it, I know only too well that words have consequences—the ugliness that he promotes,” she said. In 2020, Whitmer was the subject of a kidnapping plot, which she has blamed Trump for.
Now, Whitmer is widely viewed as one of the top Democratic contenders for the 2028 presidential nomination, although she has tried to tap down rumors. Should she change her mind, appealing to swing voters and winning her home state, a battleground Trump swung to the Right last year, would be critical to clinching victory during the general election.
During her address to lawmakers in Lansing on Wednesday, Whitmer embraced bipartisan rhetoric as speculation continues that she could run for the White House in 2028. Trump’s move to put a 30-day pause on tariffs on Canada and Mexico in early February garnered particular praise from the governor. The grace period ends on March 4, when the tariffs will be implemented.
“I’m grateful that Republicans, Democrats, and private sector leaders are speaking out against widespread 25% tariffs on our neighbors because we know that saying no to Canada would mean saying yes to China,” Whitmer said. “I’m also grateful that the President decided to pause. As I’ve said before, I’m not opposed to tariffs outright, but they are a blunt tool.”
“On tariffs and every issue, Michiganders expect us to work together in Lansing, because that’s how things get done,” Whitmer continued, before touting bipartisan legislation she has supported and reminiscing on her time spent as a state legislator in the minority for fourteen years.
Whitmer also made a direct pitch to young male voters as data from the 2024 presidential election showed Trump made critical inroads within the demographic. Young men shifted roughly 15 points toward the president last year, per exit polling.
The governor said on Wednesday her message was directed “to all young people, but especially to our young men.”
“The last thing any of us wants is a generation of young men falling behind their fathers and grandfathers,” Whitmer said. “I’ve heard most about this issue from moms, moms who love their sons and are worried about them.”
She continued to worry about the sharp decline in young men involved in the state’s Reconnect program, which awards scholarships for students to attend community colleges. Whitmer is signing an executive order, she announced, to “reach more young men and boost their enrollment in higher education and skills training programs.”
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“Just like with housing, there’s a gender gap here in education, too,” Whitmer said. “Women outnumber men at our community colleges, universities, and most of all in the Michigan Reconnect, where enrollment is two to one, women to men.”
“We built these great programs open to everyone, but we need to do a better job of getting more young men up,” the governor added.