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The Michigan governor’s awkward Oval Office appearance reflected how several Democratic state leaders are cultivating cordial but politically risky relationships with the president.
April 12, 2025, 5:03 a.m. ET
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan stood glumly in the Oval Office, hoping no one would take her picture.
She had not expected to be there, standing in front of the cameras, as President Trump signed executive orders punishing those who opposed his 2020 election lies. Ms. Whitmer, a prominent Democrat seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, had come to the White House to discuss funding for an Air National Guard base near Detroit and aid for thousands of Michiganders who had just been hit by an ice storm.
Then Mr. Trump’s aides surprised her on Wednesday by ushering her into the Oval Office not for her scheduled one-on-one meeting with the president, but for a politically loaded appearance before the press corps. She found herself an unwilling participant in his unending reality show, with photos of her rocketing around group chats of Democratic strategists who wondered what on earth she was doing.
The episode was the result of a remarkable attempt at reconciliation between Ms. Whitmer and Mr. Trump, who dismissed her in 2020 as “that woman from Michigan” during a clash over his administration’s pandemic response.
The day after the inauguration, Ms. Whitmer penned a handwritten letter — which has not been previously reported — congratulating Mr. Trump, saying she looked forward to working together and praising his support for the auto industry in his first address, according to a person who relayed the text of the letter. Ms. Whitmer included her cellphone number and invited Mr. Trump to call her if she could be of any help to him.
The outreach worked for her, but it came at a cost.
Her whipsaw experience with Mr. Trump illustrates the political risks that Democratic governors face as a small group of them try to cultivate relationships with a president reviled by their party but in control of vast amounts of federal funding for states.
