Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is catching heat from her own party. She stood next to former President Donald Trump during a White House signing ceremony. Democrats say she looked like a political “prop.”
"Just a f---ing disaster," said one Democratic operative. The person usually supports Whitmer but told NBC News they were furious. "It feels like it removes some of the momentum she had as a politically savvy swing-state Dem."
Whitmer went to Washington for a private meeting. But it didn’t stay private. She ended up in the room as Trump signed executive orders.
Those orders? They targeted two former administration aides who’d criticized him. Whitmer didn’t back the orders, but her presence said otherwise. She stood silently, near the Resolute Desk.
CNN’s Edward-Isaac Dovere didn’t hold back. He called it a "huge embarrassment." Audie Cornish said, "This does not look like the politics of resistance."
Dovere went further, suggesting Trump set her up. "She [Governor Whitmer] went for this meeting with the president, and he used her as a prop."
The fallout hit fast. Trump praised Whitmer as "a very good person" who did "an excellent job" in Michigan. That didn’t help her with Democrats hoping for a stronger stance.
Trump and Whitmer had worked on some bipartisan issues. Like protecting Selfridge Air Force Base. And stopping an invasive fish threatening the Great Lakes.
Trump called those topics "bipartisan." He even joked about a ribbon-cutting with Whitmer, saying, "we'll all stand there together and cut a ribbon. Okay, Gretchen?"
Whitmer’s team scrambled to explain. They said she was brought in "without any notice." Her office insisted the appearance "was not an endorsement."
Earlier that day, she gave a speech that raised eyebrows. She showed some agreement with Trump’s tariff policies.
"I understand the motivation behind the tariffs, and I can tell you here's where President Trump and I do agree," she said. "We do need to make more stuff in America."
She talked up making cars, steel, and chips in the U.S. A rare moment of overlap with Trump’s economic stance.
Later, she softened her tone. She warned against using "the tariff hammer to swing at every problem." But her comments stood in contrast to rivals like Governors Shapiro and Polis, who blasted Trump’s policies.
The whole day left Democrats questioning Whitmer’s instincts. Especially with 2028 presidential talk already bubbling.