Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she's looking for 'shared priorities' with Trump

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she's focused on finding "some shared priorities" with Republican President-elect Donald Trump and wants to see progress, in the coming weeks, on a massive economic development project planned for Genesee County.

Whitmer took questions from Michigan reporters Tuesday in Lansing, for the first time since the Nov. 5 election, in which Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and won Michigan 50%-48%. The former president's victory marked a significant political shift in the state from two years ago when Whitmer was reelected by 10 percentage points, 54%-44%.

“I know that some of my colleagues have staked out some pretty aggressive strategies," Whitmer said of working with Trump. "As I’m thinking about what a Trump administration will mean for our work ... I’m trying to focus on where we can find some shared priorities.

"Obviously, there will be areas in which we don’t agree. I don’t agree with anyone on everything. And so that's not going to be a surprise."

Also, on Tuesday, the governor laid out her most detailed arguments yet in favor of a semiconductor manufacturing project that could bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment to Mundy Township, since The Detroit News revealed the plans for it on Sept. 16.

The project is expected to need significant government incentives at both the state and federal levels.

"We know we've got a great opportunity," Whitmer said. "We've got a community where good paying jobs would be welcomed. That would be true in almost any community. But this is on-shoring supply chains, something that is really important to our economy writ large, not just in Michigan, but for the country."

San Jose-based chipmaker Western Digital Technologies Inc. has been one company in talks with the state about bringing a microchip production facility to a mega development site in Mundy Township southwest of Flint, sources previously told The News.

Sources have said the project appeared to hinge on approval by Democratic President Joe Biden's administration for federal subsidies under the CHIPS Act, a 2022 law designed to lure investment in domestic semiconductor production and lower America's dependency on foreign-made chips for everything from cars to home appliances. The act featured $39 billion in manufacturing incentives.

Whitmer told reporters she was hopeful the Mundy Township project — there has been no public announcement about it yet — could advance by the end of the year.

"I'm hopeful for a lot of things," Whitmer said with a laugh.

Working with Trump

Whitmer laid out a different approach Tuesday to co-existing with Trump, a Republican former president, than some of her fellow Democratic governors have in recent days.

"We have worked with a Trump administration before," Whitmer told reporters. "We’ll figure out how to work with a Trump administration into this last two years of my term.”

Whitmer gained the national political spotlight in 2020 while clashing with Trump, who was then-president, over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, Trump acknowledged telling his then-Vice President Mike Pence not to "call the woman in Michigan."

"I say, if they don't treat you right, don't call," Trump said at the time.

Whitmer didn't lay out which specific policy topics on which she believes she can work with the incoming Trump administration and didn't directly answer a question on whether she would cooperate with his plans for a mass deportation of individuals in the country illegally.

In California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for a special session there for lawmakers to protect progressive policies on climate change, reproductive rights and immigration ahead of another Trump presidency.

"The freedoms we hold dear in California are under attack — and we won’t sit idle," Newsom said in a statement last week.

On the election

Asked what Democrats should take away from the Nov. 5 election, Whitmer, who served as a co-chair of Harris' presidential campaign, directed reporters to call "pundits" about what the lessons should be.

"My big takeaway is this is still Michigan," Whitmer said "We are still a nation that is very divided and I’ve got to do everything I can to … stake out an agenda where every person sees that they are valued and has an opportunity here."

In addition to Trump winning the presidency. Republicans also scored a majority of the seats in the state House, meaning Democrats will lose their complete control of state government in January.

However, Democrats still have until the end of the year to pass bills through their majorities in the House and Senate. Democratic leaders have been relatively quiet about what their agenda is for the lame duck period between Election Day and Dec. 31.

"I would anticipate that we'll get a number of things done during lame duck," Whitmer said on Tuesday, without identifying specific measures that might be put up for votes.

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