‘That’s a Huge Deal!’ Gretchen Whitmer Dishes to Gavin Newsom About Her Surprisingly Productive Trump Relationship

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer (D) opened up to California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) about her surprisingly productive relationship with President Donald Trump.

On the This Is Gavin Newsom podcast, Whitmer and Newsom shared a beer and chatted about the current state of politics, including the odd position Democratic governors find themselves in with Trump in the White House.

Whitmer recalled stumping for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election and admitted she “didn’t know what to expect” when Trump came out victorious. She said she found an “opening” when she watched his inauguration and he mentioned building manufacturing and boosting auto workers. Whitmer decided to write a note to the president and leave her number.

“I said, congratulations, you won the election. I noticed you talked about auto workers. If that’s something you want to work on, you know, I’d love to work with you if you want to help the industry. Here’s my number. And he called me. And he’s called me a number of times since then,” she told Newsom.

Newsom noted they’ve both met with Trump inside the White House and despite any public tensions, those are always productive meetings.

Whitmer admitted she’s gotten things done with Trump that never happened under former President Joe Biden.

“I’ve gotten some really good stuff done, honestly. I got a fighter mission at Selfridge Air National Guard base, and I tried to get that done under the Biden administration, and they didn’t get it over the finish line, but I got it done with him,” she said. “So that’s a huge deal to Michigan. So even though I don’t like it, I know how to work with people I’m not, you know, best friends with, to put it lightly.”

Watch above via This Is Gavin Newsom.

Jason Cohen contributed to this report.

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