Blue state governor makes another appearance with Trump before his 100-day speech: ‘Happy we’re here’

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., greeted President Donald Trump on the tarmac in Michigan before his speech to National Guard members on Tuesday, where she also spoke at the event without hiding her face.

“Well, I hadn’t planned to speak, but on behalf of all the military men and women who serve our country and serve so honorably on behalf of the State of Michigan, I am really damn happy we’re here,” Whitmer said.

Fox News co-host Judge Jeanine Pirro said on “The Five” Tuesday that Whitmer had a chance to set the tone for the Democratic Party.

“I think that…of course, she’s there because of the troops, but there are some Democrats who wouldn’t be in the same room with Donald Trump,” Pirro said. “I think that she did the right thing, and I think that wanting to work with the president to bring back manufacturing to Michigan is a smart move.”

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During the event on Tuesday, Trump unveiled plans to swap out the retiring A-10 Warthog aircraft based out of Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Michigan with 21 brand-new F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets.

Trump shared the details during a speech to National Guard members at the Michigan base before an event commemorating his 100th day in office.

“So I want to thank Governor Gretchen Whitmer for bringing it also to our attention very strongly. And, you know, I’m not supposed to do that. She’s a Democrat. They say, ‘Don’t do that. Don’t have her here.’ I said, ‘No, she’s going to be here,'” Trump said. “She’s done a very good job, frankly. And she’s she was very much involved with, with the Republicans. They worked together on saving it. And it was not easy. So I want to thank you very much, Gretchen. Good job.”

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Whitmer’s presence Tuesday came a few weeks after seemingly hiding her face during a meeting with Trump in the Oval Office.

Whitmer was criticized for shielding her face with a folder as a photo of the moment became a meme on social media.

She poked fun at the now-viral moment by once again holding folders up in front of her face when asked about her trip to Washington, D.C., during an event at the Detroit Economic Club after the meeting with the president. 

“… I don’t want my picture taken, that’s all it was. I kind of wished I hadn’t put my folder up in front of my face, but whatever. You know I was there … I just wrote a book about learning to laugh at yourself, so I’m pretty good at it. We all have our moments,” Whitmer said. 

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The governor’s trip to Washington brought her 2028 presidential ambitions into the national conversation as she struck a diplomatic tone with Trump. She carefully criticized Trump’s tariffs while saying she understood the “motivation behind the tariffs” and even agreeing with Trump that we “need to make more stuff in America.”

Whitmer’s Oval Office moment marked her second meeting with Trump in less than a month, and Tuesday’s meeting now marks the third. As Trump signed executive orders from the Oval Office on April 9 and answered questions from the press, he said Whitmer had “done an excellent job” as governor and called her a “very good person,” a break from his typical lines of attack on her character. 

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When Trump signed the executive orders calling for the investigation of two first-term administration aides who were critical of his actions, Whitmer’s office said she was brought into the room “without any notice” and that her appearance was “not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made.”

But Trump called the issues “bipartisan” and jokingly added, “We’ll all stand there together and cut a ribbon. OK, Gretchen?”

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.