On Thursday, two days after President Donald Trump was elected, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer offered a sharply different take on Detroit’s manufacturing sector Defending his tariff strategy In the Motor City.
Speaking at the Detroit auto show in her final year as governor, Whitmer, a term-limited Democrat, said the administration’s tariff strategy hurt U.S. auto manufacturing but benefited Chinese competitors. It’s a message she’s repeated over the past year as economic uncertainty ripples across the auto industry.
“Without a significant shift in national policy, things are only going to get worse,” Whitmer said.
Her comments came after Trump gave a speech on Tuesday in Detroit, a major center for auto manufacturing, in which he defended his economic policies. He also toured the shop floor at the Ford plant in Dearborn.
“All American automakers are doing great,” Trump said.
Whitmer offered a different perspective on the impact, saying the U.S. manufacturing sector has shrunk for months, leading to job losses and production cuts. She has been staunchly opposed to Trump’s tariff strategy since last year, especially as her state works closely with Canadian businesses. Auto parts often cross the U.S.-Canada border multiple times during the assembly process.
“America is lonelier than we have been in decades,” Whitmer said. “Perhaps no industry has experienced more change and been more impacted than our automotive industry.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Whitmer’s speech.
Whitmer has maintained a friendlier relationship with Trump in her second term than she did in her first term. This relationship includes rarely visits the White House last year. Whitmer has long been considered a possible Democratic presidential candidate, and his strategy differs markedly from other potential 2028 presidential candidates who have taken a more public, combative approach to Trump, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.
In her first speech of the year, Whitmer said that every time she met with Trump last year, she told him that hurting U.S.-Canada relations would only help China’s competition.
Last year, Trump changed his tune on cars. He initially announced a 25% tariff on cars and parts; relax policies As domestic manufacturers seek comfort Protection from the threat of rising production costs.
During a trip to the Detroit area, Trump said the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a major trade deal he negotiated during his first term, was irrelevant, although he gave no other details. will be reviewed this year.
Whitmer defended the trade deal in her speech.
“Yet when we fight our neighbors, China wins,” she said.