Whitmer to call for compromise between GOP 'friends' and 'fellow Democrats'
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) plans to call for compromise between the Republican and Democratic parties in her first big speech since her state helped put President-elect Trump back in the Oval Office.
In speech excerpts provided to The Associated Press, Whitmer urges her Republican “friends” and her “fellow Democrats” to come together.
She also plans to address President-elect Trump’s plan for tariffs, which would affect key industries in her state.
Soon after the election, Trump announced a plan to enact tariffs of 25 percent on all Canadian and Mexican goods and add another 10 percent tariff to all Chinese goods — many of which are already under tariffs imposed by Trump during his first term.
“There’s been a lot of talk about tariffs. I’m not opposed to tariffs outright, but we can’t treat them like a ‘one size fits all’ solution. And we certainly shouldn’t use them to punish our closest trading partners,” Whitmer will say in her speech, according to excerpts.
The Hill has reached out to Whitmer’s office for excerpts of her remarks.
In a separate interview Tuesday with the AP, Whitmer confirmed that she has not yet spoken to Trump but said she hopes to "in the next couple of weeks."
“I do look forward to connecting with the incoming president, because we’ve got a lot of important things, and the people of Michigan elected us both twice, just two years apart, both times, and I suspect we can find common ground on some things and that’s my job,” said the second-term governor, who has two years left in her final term.
Whitmer told the AP that she has spoken to fellow Democrats “from some very blue states” about her approach to dealing with Trump in the coming years.
“My situation here in Michigan is very different than theirs,” Whitmer said, noting that she has a majority Republican House of Representatives in her state to work with.
“I’ve got to make sure that I can deliver and work with folks of the federal government, and so I don’t view myself as the leader of the opposition like some might,” she added.