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“The governor is always going to show up and make the case for Michigan. We appreciate the president’s time.”
That was part of the statement that came from Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office this week as it was announced that the governor met again Tuesday with President Donald Trump at the White House.
Whitmer’s office said Trump has agreed to send more funds to assist recovery efforts in northern Michigan from ice storms that battered the region last spring.
It’s one more chapter in the sometimes-rivals-sometimes-dealmakers “it’s complicated” relationship between the Republican president and Democratic governor.
“The president agreed to deliver additional federal funding to help Michiganders with the costs of recovery efforts, and the governor is grateful for this extra assistance,” said Whitmer Press Secretary Stacey LaRouche.
The agreement to extend the aid appears to be a reversal of an earlier decision by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There was no indication of how much money could be headed to northern Michigan recovery efforts.
The president said in a social media post that he also is working with Whitmer on efforts to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp.
LaRouche said the governor pressed for funding so the Army Corps of Engineers can build a barrier to help block the invasive carp from escaping from the Mississippi River system into the Great Lakes.
“We need funding released so the Army Corps can begin construction as soon as possible,” she said in a text message. LaRouche said they also discussed deployment of a new fighter jet unit to Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County, and the governor delivered an update to the president on the deadly tornadoes that hit southwest Michigan last week.
Whitmer last met with Trump at the White House last August. Whitmer said they talked about the impact of new tariff policies and a request to delay Medicaid spending reductions that would shift costs to the state.
Listen to what the governor had to say about working with President Trump at a Semafor event this week.
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Have questions about Michigan politics? Or, just want to let us know what you want more of (less of?) in the newsletter? We always want to hear from you! Shoot us an email at politics@michiganpublic.org!
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What we’re talking about at the dinner table
Whitmer visits: Governor Whitmer also traveled to West Bloomfield Township Friday morning after Thursday’s attack at Temple Israel. The “attacker armed with a rifle was fatally shot after ramming his vehicle into one of the nation’s largest Reform synagogues in what federal investigators said was an act of violence targeting the Jewish community. Jennifer Runyan, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit field office, called the incident ‘deeply disturbing and tragic’ and said the FBI is leading the investigation. The agency considers the crime a ‘targeted act of violence against the Jewish community,’ she said at a news conference Thursday. Investigators have not determined a specific motive yet,” the Associated Press reports. Teachers, staff and all 140 children at the synagogue’s childcare center were unharmed in the attack.
Ballot campaign ends: You won’t get to vote in November on whether to raise taxes on wealthy Michiganders to pay for schools. “A push to put a graduated income tax proposal on Michigan's 2026 ballot is dead. Invest in MI Kids, the organizer of the drive, announced Thursday that it suspended the campaign to increase the tax on high earners to boost K-12 funding. The committee might try again in 2028… Invest in MI Kids needed at least 446,198 valid signatures to qualify for the 2026 ballot but fell short by hundreds of thousands,” Dave Eggert at Crain's Detroit Business reports.
Running justice: The two Michigan Supreme Court justices whose terms expire this year are running for re-election. "Chief Justice Megan Cavanagh and Justice Noah Hood made a joint announcement this week," Michigan Public’s Brett Dahlberg reports. “Candidates running for seats on the state’s high court are nominated at political party conventions, but they’re officially non-partisan on the general election ballot.” Hood, however, was appointed to the Michigan Supreme Court last year by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Lone Republican-nominated Justice Brian Zahra’s term expires at the end of 2030.
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Yours in political nerdiness,
Rick Pluta & Zoe Clark
Co-hosts, It’s Just Politics
