HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Republican President Donald Trump landed in Michigan on Tuesday and shared a hug with a longtime antagonist, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, as they appeared collectively to announce a brand new fighter jet mission being positioned at an Air Nationwide Guard base outdoors Detroit and ease fears that the set up might shut.
Trump delivered the information at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Macomb County, shortly after arriving in Michigan for a night rally marking his a hundredth day in workplace. He was joined by Whitmer, who has softened her stance towards Trump in hopes of discovering widespread floor — with securing a brand new mission for the bottom a prime precedence.
For many years, Trump mentioned the bottom has “stood as an important pillar of North American air protection.”
“Lately, many in Michigan have feared for the way forward for the bottom. They’ve been calling all people, however the one one which mattered is Trump,” he mentioned. “Right this moment I’ve are available individual to put to relaxation any doubt about Selfridge’s future.”
After Trump and Whitmer hugged upon the president disembarking Air Pressure One, she climbed in his motorcade to trip to the bottom. Throughout his remarks, Trump mentioned the governor has been “very efficient” in advocating for the bottom.
State officers had been pushing for years to exchange the bottom’s ageing fleet of A-10 plane, that are set to be retired, to assist guarantee Selfridge stays in operation. Trump had prompt that new fighter jets might safe Selfridge’s future, together with the likes of F-16s or F-35s.
Positioned 30 miles north of Detroit, the bottom generates an estimated $850 million in statewide financial affect and helps about 5,000 army and civilian personnel, in line with the workplace of Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.
For years, Whitmer has pressed a number of administrations — together with Trump’s first time period and former Democratic President Joe Biden’s — to safe a brand new mission for the bottom, calling it “a key protection hub and financial anchor.” The Air Pressure introduced in 2017 that Selfridge had misplaced out on a bid for F-35A Lightning.
Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth traveled individually from the president to Selfrdige for the announcement. However army implications apart, Trump’s announcement handed Whitmer a victory — although it stays to be seen what political worth she might have paid to safe it.
The governor has been steadily talked about as a possible presidential candidate. As she works to boost her profile nationally, Whitmer has vowed to seek out widespread floor with Trump the place she will be able to. However some Democrats view the president and his administration as so dangerous that they’d fairly see the social gathering oppose Trump and his crew every time potential.
Earlier this month, Whitmer traveled to Washington to satisfy with Trump to debate Selfridge and different points affecting Michigan, together with the steep tariffs Trump has imposed on Canada and different U.S. buying and selling companions. The governor mentioned she was unexpectedly ushered into the Oval Workplace, the place she stood awkwardly because the Republican president signed government orders and assailed his political opponents throughout a photograph alternative.
At one level, a photograph captured Whitmer making an attempt to cover her face from the cameras by holding up a folder.
Trump had instructed Whitmer throughout her go to that he hoped to maintain the bottom “open, robust, thriving.”
“It’s an incredible piece of property. It’s an incredible location, and it’s an incredible state,” Trump mentioned. “So I feel we’re going to come back again with an excellent reply.”
He adopted via on that Tuesday, at a time when Michigan has seen its unemployment fee rise for 3 consecutive months, together with a 1.3% soar in March, reaching 5.5%, in line with state information. That fare exceeds the nationwide common.
__
Weissert reported from Warren, Michigan.
© Copyright 2025 Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials might not be printed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
