Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer defended her recent interactions with Donald Trump amid some backlash from the left, citing “service above self.”
The swing state Democrat, a potential 2028 presidential candidate, said in a “Pod Save America” interview Thursday that her meetings with the president are not about appearances or her political self-interest, but getting things done.
“It doesn’t mean I’ve abandoned any of my values. It doesn’t mean that I’m not going to stand my ground,” Whitmer said. “This is one of those moments where as a public servant, you’re reminded your job is to put service above self, and that’s what it was all about.”
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Whitmer added, “One of the things that I’ve learned is I’ve got to put the people in Michigan first over my self-interest, over maybe what people assume are going to be my political interests.”
Whitmer also addressed once more a viral photo of her covering her face with a folder as Trump was signing executive orders in the Oval Office last month.
“No one reported that I left the room to go talk to my staff person. I said, ‘We gotta get word out because the stuff that’s going on in there—I cannot be associated with that. I do not endorse that. I’m not here for that,’” the governor said. “But I had to stay and have my meeting after that was done.”
Shortly after that Oval Office meeting, a spokesperson for Whitmer told reporters that she was surprised to have been brought into the room.
“Her presence is not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made at that event,” they explained.
At that meeting, one topic the two discussed was the revitalization of a Michigan’s Selfridge Air National Guard Base.
On Tuesday, Whitmer joined Trump at the base when he announced that it would be housing new fighter jets—something that Whitmer told Politico was “a BFD for my state.”
“So I want to thank Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for bringing [Selfridge] to our attention,” Trump said on stage, adding that she has “done a very good job, frankly.”
Whitmer doesn’t seem concerned about her Trump interactions harming her politically with her constituents.
“It means showing up at the Oval Office and maybe having people, pundits take shots at me for being there,” Whitmer said on Thursday’s podcast. “They don’t care whether or not I held a folder in a picture. They don’t care. They care if they’re going to have a job.”
