By Lily Guiney
Gongwer News Service
In her single interview at the close of 2024, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer set the stage for bipartisan collaboration in her final two years in office and suggested she’s ready to bury the hatchet with President-elect Donald Trump.
In an interview for Michigan Public Television’s annual “Evening with the Governor” program, recorded in the throes of lame duck chaos in December, Whitmer’s year-in-review conversation made no mention of the scramble that lawmakers in her own party were attempting to work through at the time of the interview.
Instead, Whitmer’s mantra seemed to be looking forward: toward Michigan’s divided government beginning next week, plans for working with legislative Republicans and the possibility of a reconciliation with Trump, despite her reservations about some of his picks for cabinet positions.
“I took an oath of office to the people of Michigan, and the people of Michigan and the people of this country have elected Donald Trump as the next president,” Whitmer said. “My job is to work with him, and I’m going to do everything I can to find common ground.”
At the time of filming, Whitmer said she had lunches with House Speaker-elect Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) and spoke with Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra to congratulate him on his nomination by Trump to become the next U.S. ambassador to Canada.
When asked if she’s sent any “back-channel signals” to the Trump transition team that she’s game to work out the differences between her and the president-elect, Whitmer suggested she has.
“I am going to do everything I can to help the state of Michigan thrive over the next two years, and I will work with anyone who wants to do that, too,” she said.
Whitmer did express concerns, though, that the incoming Trump administration could damage Michigan’s economy with aggressive tariffs on Mexico and Canada or cost United Auto Workers jobs in the state, which she said would be “a nightmare scenario.”
However, she didn’t seem confident that all of Trump’s ultra-conservative campaign promises will come to pass once he takes office.
“In every administration, there are going to be issues that come up that are unpredictable. There is going to be rhetoric that doesn’t end up culminating in action,” Whitmer said. “So, it’s unpredictable, I think, and that, in and of itself, is of great concern. When you talk to folks in any line of business, predictability is important, and that’s hard to come by right now.”
As for predictability in Michigan’s near future, Whitmer demurred on questions about who may succeed her in 2026 and whether it’s her responsibility as a party leader to make an endorsement, likening a sitting governor endorsing a successor to “dead hand control” in estate planning.
“That’s really a legal phrase from estate planning and law school, but it’s the attempt of someone outgoing, dying in that instance, but outgoing, to try to control what happens next,” she said. “And I’m going to leave it up to the people of Michigan. I respect the people of Michigan, and I will do everything I can so that when I leave this office, I hand it over to whomever comes next in as strong shape as we can.”
Whitmer noted that lieutenant governors who have been endorsed by their superiors in the past have all lost their bids for the top spot and said she has “a lot of friends” who are preparing to run for her position in 2026, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who announced his independent bid last month, and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, neither of whom have publicly said they’re running but who have alluded to possible campaigns.
“Garlin’s been my partner for six years. He’s a great leader; I can tell you,” Whitmer said. “Jocelyn Benson has been a great secretary of state, leading her department. Mike Duggan has done a great job leading the city of Detroit, and that’s probably not the whole class of friends that I have that are looking at it.”
On the more immediate future, Whitmer gave Hall credit for committing to work on a road funding plan, a priority of the governor’s since the days of “fix the damn roads” as a campaign slogan.
“I will say, as we’ve opened up discussions about a variety of issues, he has said he is committed to working on real road funding – he would be the first leader in all my years here that actually put his name on a plan,” Whitmer said. “I’m not crazy about the plan, but it’s something to start from, and I think maybe we can find some common ground on this issue that has vexed multiple generations, people, both parties, maybe we can actually work together to solve it.”
Although Hall and Whitmer have frequently – and publicly – been at odds during his time in the House minority, she said she feels confident in her ability to maintain a positive working relationship with the new speaker.
“I mean, I worked with Mike Shirkey and Lee Chatfield and Jason Wentworth,” Whitmer said. “I can work with Matt Hall.”
Gongwer News Service
In her single interview at the close of 2024, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer set the stage for bipartisan collaboration in her final two years in office and suggested she’s ready to bury the hatchet with President-elect Donald Trump.
In an interview for Michigan Public Television’s annual “Evening with the Governor” program, recorded in the throes of lame duck chaos in December, Whitmer’s year-in-review conversation made no mention of the scramble that lawmakers in her own party were attempting to work through at the time of the interview.
Instead, Whitmer’s mantra seemed to be looking forward: toward Michigan’s divided government beginning next week, plans for working with legislative Republicans and the possibility of a reconciliation with Trump, despite her reservations about some of his picks for cabinet positions.
“I took an oath of office to the people of Michigan, and the people of Michigan and the people of this country have elected Donald Trump as the next president,” Whitmer said. “My job is to work with him, and I’m going to do everything I can to find common ground.”
At the time of filming, Whitmer said she had lunches with House Speaker-elect Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) and Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Township) and spoke with Michigan Republican Party Chair Pete Hoekstra to congratulate him on his nomination by Trump to become the next U.S. ambassador to Canada.
When asked if she’s sent any “back-channel signals” to the Trump transition team that she’s game to work out the differences between her and the president-elect, Whitmer suggested she has.
“I am going to do everything I can to help the state of Michigan thrive over the next two years, and I will work with anyone who wants to do that, too,” she said.
Whitmer did express concerns, though, that the incoming Trump administration could damage Michigan’s economy with aggressive tariffs on Mexico and Canada or cost United Auto Workers jobs in the state, which she said would be “a nightmare scenario.”
However, she didn’t seem confident that all of Trump’s ultra-conservative campaign promises will come to pass once he takes office.
“In every administration, there are going to be issues that come up that are unpredictable. There is going to be rhetoric that doesn’t end up culminating in action,” Whitmer said. “So, it’s unpredictable, I think, and that, in and of itself, is of great concern. When you talk to folks in any line of business, predictability is important, and that’s hard to come by right now.”
As for predictability in Michigan’s near future, Whitmer demurred on questions about who may succeed her in 2026 and whether it’s her responsibility as a party leader to make an endorsement, likening a sitting governor endorsing a successor to “dead hand control” in estate planning.
“That’s really a legal phrase from estate planning and law school, but it’s the attempt of someone outgoing, dying in that instance, but outgoing, to try to control what happens next,” she said. “And I’m going to leave it up to the people of Michigan. I respect the people of Michigan, and I will do everything I can so that when I leave this office, I hand it over to whomever comes next in as strong shape as we can.”
Whitmer noted that lieutenant governors who have been endorsed by their superiors in the past have all lost their bids for the top spot and said she has “a lot of friends” who are preparing to run for her position in 2026, including Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who announced his independent bid last month, and Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, neither of whom have publicly said they’re running but who have alluded to possible campaigns.
“Garlin’s been my partner for six years. He’s a great leader; I can tell you,” Whitmer said. “Jocelyn Benson has been a great secretary of state, leading her department. Mike Duggan has done a great job leading the city of Detroit, and that’s probably not the whole class of friends that I have that are looking at it.”
On the more immediate future, Whitmer gave Hall credit for committing to work on a road funding plan, a priority of the governor’s since the days of “fix the damn roads” as a campaign slogan.
“I will say, as we’ve opened up discussions about a variety of issues, he has said he is committed to working on real road funding – he would be the first leader in all my years here that actually put his name on a plan,” Whitmer said. “I’m not crazy about the plan, but it’s something to start from, and I think maybe we can find some common ground on this issue that has vexed multiple generations, people, both parties, maybe we can actually work together to solve it.”
Although Hall and Whitmer have frequently – and publicly – been at odds during his time in the House minority, she said she feels confident in her ability to maintain a positive working relationship with the new speaker.
“I mean, I worked with Mike Shirkey and Lee Chatfield and Jason Wentworth,” Whitmer said. “I can work with Matt Hall.”
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