Whitmer Casts Doubt on a 2028 White House Bid

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer cast doubt on the prospect of running for president in 2028 while speaking in Toronto on Wednesday. Whitmer was asked by a Canadian journalist in a moderated discussion whether she is considering seeking the Democratic nomination for president in 2028, the AP reports. "I anticipate helping, but I don't know if I'm going to be the person," she said. Whitmer is in the last two years of her second term as governor and she cannot run again because of term limits. While she is seen by many as a potential candidate, she said she is focused on her current work as governor.

"I don't know if I need to be the main character in the next chapter, but I want to have a hand in writing it," she said. "And I think I've got an important vantage point as the governor of an important swing state."

• Whitmer has several challenges in front of her. Michigan lawmakers just passed a one-week continuing budget to keep the state government operational after months of bitter disagreement and just days ago, a gunman opened fire in a Michigan church he set ablaze in an attack that killed four people.
• Additionally, US tariffs on Canada are hurting auto manufacturing. Whitmer gave a speech about Michigan's relationship with Canada and the impact of the tariffs before the question-and-answer segment. Whitmer said the ripple effects of tariffs' disruption of the auto industry in Michigan are being felt by consumers in mortgage payments, grocery bills, and retirement savings.
• Canadian journalist Steve Paikin grilled the governor on her relationship with President Trump, which has been more cordial in his second term and less combative compared to other prominent Democratic governors such as Gavin Newsom of California and JB Pritzker of Illinois. The change of tone from Whitmer's own first term as governor has reaped criticism from some Democrats and praise from others.

• Whitmer has visited the White House several times this year, and has repeatedly stressed the need for bipartisanship at every level of government and politics in this first year of Trump's second term. Whitmer told the audience Wednesday that she has used each chance to meet with the president's cabinet members and chief of staff, pushing them to "undo this tariff madness."
• "Right now, we're shooting ourselves in the foot with a chaotic national tariff policy," she said, per Politico. "I've sat with the president and told him that when we say no to Canada, it is saying yes to China." She said the "insults" the White House has directed at Canada are "not just unwise and unnecessary, but also unjustified or unproductive."
• Whitmer had other points to pick with Trump. She rejected Trump's recent claims that violence comes from left-leaning politics, drawing on her own experience with political violence. She suggested that Trump may seek an unconstitutional third term but believes the law will stop him. And while vague, she spoke in support of the freedom to disagree peacefully. "You don't take away their right to say whatever thing you don't agree with. That's what's fundamental to a democracy," she said. "And I worry that there are people in power who don't believe that."