Politics
Dem Governor Tries To Hide From Cameras During Meeting With Trump, Fails Miserably
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer seemingly tried to hide from the cameras during her Oval Office meeting with President Trump last week, bizarre photos from the event have revealed.
Whitmer met with the president for the second time in under a month in order to discuss the president’s tariff strategy and a number of ecological issues in the Great Lakes region. Michigan has played an outsized role in the president’s economic agenda, a top goal of which is revitalize the nation’s auto industry.
Several labor unions — including the United Auto Workers — have endorsed Trump’s strategy to place tariffs on foreign cars entering the United States despite endorsing and campaigning for former President Biden.
Like the UAW, Whitmer deviated from fellow Democrats by endorsing elements of Trump’s strategy. “I understand the motivation behind the tariffs,” Whitmer, who is widely viewed as a potential contender for the Democratic nomination in 2028, said. “And I can tell you, here’s where President Trump and I do agree—we do need to make more stuff in America. More cars and chips. More steel and ships. We do need fair trade.”
President Trump had kind words for Whitmer as well during an impromptu media availability session. “She’s really done an excellent job,” the president said in what was seen as a surprising moment across both sides of the aisle. “Very good person,” Trump added.
While the meeting was cordial, Whitmer was seemingly hoping to avoid any publicity at the meeting. The governor has been mocked online after photos surfaced showing her covering up her face with a binder during the media availability period.
Trump refused to let her off the hook, however. Whitmer soon lowered the binder when the president put her on the spot and asked her to say a few words to the press.
Whitmer later told reporters that she thought she was coming into the Oval Office for a one-on-one meeting with the president and was taken by surprise by the media availability period.
Whitmer — who frequently clashed with Trump during his first term over COVID-19 policies and a host of other issues — was widely mocked on social media over the bizarre moment. “Whitmer covering her face is the perfect metaphor for the Democratic Party,” one X user said.
“Gretchen Whitmer hiding behind her files in the White House is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. This is what my 2 year old does,” wrote Daily Wire editor Brent Scher.
The governor also drew the ire of her fellow Democrats, who have been trying to push a unified message in opposition to Trump’s trade reform policies and tariffs. “Tariffs are bad outright because they lead to higher prices and destroy American manufacturing,” Colorado Governor Jared Polis, who is also seen as a potential presidential contender, said in a direct rebuke of Whitmer.
“Trade is inherently good because both parties emerge better off from a consensual transaction,” he added.
“Just a f—ing disaster,” one Democratic Party operative fumed to NBC News on the condition of anonymity. “It feels like it removes some of the momentum she had as a politically savvy swing-state Dem.”
Whitmer’s team also rushed to contain the political fallout from the event by essentially walking back everything that was said during the meeting.
“The governor was surprised that she was brought into the Oval Office during President Trump’s press conference without any notice of the subject matter,” a Whitmer spokesperson said in a statement. “Her presence is not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made at that event.”
