Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is seen covering her face in the Oval Office on April 9, 2025. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)
The Michigan governor's trip to Washington last week brought her 2028 presidential ambitions into the national conversation as she struck a diplomatic tone with Trump. She carefully criticized Trump's tariffs while saying she understood the "motivation behind the tariffs" and even agreeing with Trump that we "need to make more stuff in America."
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Whitmer's viral Oval Office moment marked her second meeting with Trump in less than a month. As Trump signed executive orders and answered questions from the press, he said Whitmer had "done an excellent job" as governor and called her a "very good person," a break from his typical lines of attack on her character.
"One of her opponents will dig that clip up and put it in a television ad," Brad Bannon, a Democrat strategist and the president of Bannon Communications Research, told Fox News Digital.
Bannon warned that Whitmer, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, getting too close to Trump could jeopardize her status as a "first-tier presidential candidate" alongside fellow governors Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Gavin Newsom of California.
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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is shown in the Oval Office on April 9, 2025. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Whitmer's diplomatic moves last week seemed to put her out of step with her party as Democrat governors, many rumored to harbor 2028 presidential ambitions, spoke out against Trump's tariffs as governors JB Pritzker of Illinois and Newsom worked independently with trade partners to try to soften the damage to their state economies.
"If you're not at the table, you're on the menu," Whitmer said after her speech in Washington last week, seeming to explain her diplomatic tone.
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Whitmer's office explained that she was meeting with Trump to discuss recovery aid for the northern Michigan ice storm, investing in Michigan's defense assets and building the American economy for everyday Michiganders.
Fox News Digital's Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/whitmer-addresses-folder-controversy-from-oval-office-after-seen-hiding