Latest news with #SelfridgeAirNationalGuard
Boston Globe
30-04-2025
- Automotive
- Boston Globe
Trump rallies supporters in Michigan to mark 100 days in office
'In 100 days, we have delivered the most profound change in Washington in 100 years,' Trump said. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up In the first three months of his second term, Trump has imposed tariffs on foreign imports, reshaping the global economy and sending markets into a frenzy. He has imposed drastic government cuts, rattling millions in the federal workforce. He has threatened to take Greenland, pressed for significant deportations of undocumented immigrants, and issued pardons to those who participated in the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 'We've just gotten started,' he said here, taking the stage to Lee Greenwood's 'God Bless the USA.' 'You haven't seen anything yet.' Trump focused many of his remarks on immigration, the issue that most riles up his base, and at one point paused to show a video of migrants being taken to El Salvador that pictured them in chains and on flights. When it was over, the crowd rose to its feet and chanted, 'USA! USA!' Advertisement The rally had the feel of a festival. Hawkers sold T-shirts and hats that read, 'Trump 2028,' suggesting Trump might be unbound by the Constitution and serve a third term. An ambulance was emblazoned with 'Trump Save the USA' on the side. 'I love it,' said Charles Bryant, a 53-year-old from Shelby Township who had a career working at Ford and wore a 'Gulf of America' T-shirt and a hat he got at the inauguration. 'He's making omelets, just shaking everything up. Tariffs. Trade. He's confusing everybody!' Before he left for Michigan, Trump signed a pair of executive orders that walked back some tariffs for carmakers, removing levies that Ford, General Motors, and others have complained would backfire on US manufacturing by raising the cost of production and squeezing their profits. The changes will modify Trump's tariffs so carmakers that pay a 25 percent tariff on auto imports are not subject to other levies, for example on steel and aluminum, or on certain imports from Canada and Mexico, according to the orders. However, the rules do not appear to protect automakers from tariffs on steel and aluminum that their suppliers pay and pass on. Carmakers will also be able to qualify for tariff relief for a proportion of the cost of their imported components, though those benefits will be phased out over the next two years. Ahead of the rally, Trump landed at nearby Selfridge Air National Guard base, appearing alongside Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat whom he has at times antagonized. She has long advocated for a new fighter jet mission for the state base, which Trump announced shortly after getting off Air Force One. Advertisement 'I want to thank Governor Gretchen Whitmer for bringing it to our attention very strongly,' Trump said. 'I'm not supposed to do that. She's a Democrat. … She's done a very good job, frankly.' Whitmer traveled to the White House earlier this month to lobby Trump for funding for Selfridge, a trip that turned out to be politically awkward for the potential 2028 presidential candidate. She was invited into the Oval Office for an unrelated event at which Trump signed executive orders that in part targeted political enemies. A New York Times photo later showed her covering her face from the camera while she was watching Trump from the perimeter of the room. Whitmer said she did not know ahead of time what Trump was planning to do in the Oval Office and that she did not endorse his actions by attending. She has made light of the photo but also defended the trip, saying it is her job to build a working relationship with the president to help her constituents. 'I am really damn happy we're here to celebrate this recapitalization at Selfridge,' she said. 'It's crucial for the Michigan economy. It's crucial for the men and women here, for our homeland security and our future. So thank you. I'm so, so grateful that this announcement was made today.' Four Democratic governors on Tuesday night scheduled a 'virtual town hall' to address his first 100 days in office. The call, which was set to feature Tim Walz of Minnesota, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Maura Healey of Massachusetts, and Kathy Hochul of New York, was hosted by the Democratic-aligned media company MeidasTouch. Advertisement Trump mocked Democrats during the rally — 'They have no confidence anymore as a party. They have no candidates' — as well as the efforts to impeach him. 'What the hell did I do that they want to impeach me?,' he said as the crowd laughed.
NBC News
29-04-2025
- Automotive
- NBC News
Trump praises Gov. Gretchen Whitmer while announcing new fighter jets for a Michigan air base
President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a new series of fighter jets for the Selfridge Air National Guard base in Michigan, giving credit in part to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Whitmer, who is viewed as a likely presidential contender in 2028, has come under scrutiny from Democrats in recent weeks for cultivating a closer working relationship with Trump. She pitched Trump earlier this month on securing a new fighter mission for the base, which is home to a soon-to-be-retired fleet of jets. But that meeting led to an awkward moment in the Oval Office, where Whitmer later stood as Trump signed an executive order targeting a critic and repeated his debunked claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him. A New York Times photographer captured her at one point shielding her face with folders. "That's the reason she came to see me, by the way — to save Selfridge," Trump said Tuesday while delivering remarks at the base in Macomb County, during an event that Whitmer attended. Trump, who will hold a rally Tuesday evening in nearby Warren, announced that a new fighter mission of about 20 F-15EX jets will replace the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft at the base. He praised a bipartisan lobbying effort that included Republicans such as Rep. John James, who represents the area in Congress and is running for governor next year. But the president repeatedly singled out Whitmer and thanked her for bringing the issue to his attention. 'This is a huge, bipartisan win for Michigan, decades in the making, that will grow our economy and make our country safer,' Whitmer said in a statement shared by her office. 'I appreciate the President's partnership on this new fighter mission that will protect jobs and show the world that Michigan is the best place to pioneer the next innovations in national defense.' Trump's announcement was the second of the day geared toward Michigan, a major industrial state and Midwest battleground that he won by a slim margin last fall. Earlier Monday, the White House confirmed a tariff break for U.S. automakers, though the immediate impact on Detroit's Big 3 car manufacturers remains murky. A fraught political dynamic hung over the day. Whitmer — conscious of her national profile in a Democratic Party searching for new leadership and of the many Democrats who were angered by her unwitting cameo in a White House photo opportunity just weeks ago — sought to calibrate expectations around her appearance with Trump. This time, her team moved to get ahead of any fallout, confirming early Tuesday that she would be with Trump at the air base — 'to support her troops and the long-standing effort she has made to secure support for Selfridge,' a spokesperson said. The statement emphasized that she would not attend Trump's rally nearby. Whitmer also issued a series of social media posts meant to explain her scheduled meeting with Trump before it happened. 'I'll work with anyone who's serious about getting things done. But I'll never compromise on what I believe,' she posted on X. 'In Michigan, we know how to get things done — and that means working together.' She added: 'Bipartisanship isn't about sacrificing our values. It's about standing strong and finding common ground to get things done. It's about putting people first, every single time.' Chris Meagher, a Democratic strategist and former Whitmer adviser, said that Tuesday's announcement validates the governor's strategy for dealing with Trump. "Gov. Whitmer has showed she's not afraid to stand up to Donald Trump when he's wrong for Michigan, and work with him when it's best for Michigan," Meagher said. "And she absolutely did what was best for the state of Michigan by working across the aisle on this deal. And she got the job done and deserves all the credit."
Fox News
13-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Gretchen Whitmer ribbed online for seeming to hide face in Oval Office
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, was ribbed online for seeming to hide her face during a meeting with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office. Whitmer was seen temporarily shielding her face from cameras in the Oval Office by holding up a folder, according to a photo by the New York Times. She later lowered the folder, as the president spoke to the press and encouraged Whitmer to comment as well. The Democratic governor, who clashed with Trump during his first term regarding her COVID-19 lockdown policies, met with the president to discuss recovery from an ice storm that impacted thousands of Michiganders, funding for the Selfridge Air National Guard base near Detroit, protections for the Great Lakes and the automobile industry. Whitmer, joined by Michigan State House Speaker Matt Hall and several Cabinet secretaries, stood steps away from the Resolute Desk while Trump signed executive orders Wednesday. "We're honored to have Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan, great state of Michigan. And, she's been she's really done an excellent job. And a very good person," Trump said. Whitmer told reporters afterward that she thought she was coming into the Oval Office for a one-on-one meeting with the president and was taken by surprise by the press conference. Her face-shielding was derided online. "Whitmer covering her face is the perfect metaphor for the Democratic Party," one user wrote. Another X user said, "Gretchen Whitmer hiding behind her files in the White House is one of the funniest things I've ever seen. This is what my 2 year old does." "Was this the nail in the coffin of Gretchen Whitmer's political aspirations?" a third user wrote. Some users joked that Whitmer was "embarrassed" to be photographed with Trump but had no shame in placing a Dorito in the mouth of a podcaster in a 2024 social media post that critics said mocked a Christian sacrament. Whitmer was in Washington to deliver a "Build, America, Build" address in which she called for bipartisan cooperation to strengthen American manufacturing. She was at the White House for her second meeting with Trump in less than a month, this time to talk about tariffs that were expected to disproportionately affect Michigan, whose economy is closely tied to an auto industry reliant on trade with Canada, Mexico and other countries. In her speech Wednesday, which came before Trump announced he was pausing tariffs in most nations except for China, Whitmer highlighted areas of agreement with Trump on tariffs but criticized how they had been implemented. "I understand the motivation behind the tariffs, and I can tell you, here's where President Trump and I do agree. We do need to make more stuff in America," said Whitmer, before adding, "I'm not against tariffs outright, but it is a blunt tool. You can't just pull out the tariff hammer to swing at every problem without a clear defined end-goal." Whitmer's approach stands in stark contrast to that of other high-profile Democratic governors, many of whom are also seen as potential contenders for the party's 2028 presidential nomination. But Whitmer faces a more challenging political landscape than leaders such as Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker or California Gov. Gavin Newsom as she represents a state with a divided state legislature and that went for Trump in two of the last three elections.
