Whitmer says she didn't want her picture taken when she hid her face in the Oval Office

Craig Mauger, The Detroit News on Apr 14, 2025

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said Monday that she temporarily hid her face from photographers in President Donald Trump's Oval Office last week simply because she didn't want her picture taken.

Whitmer, a second-term Democrat, made the comment at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club after The New York Times published a photo Saturday of her holding blue folders in front of her face inside the Oval Office. Whitmer has faced a mixture of criticism and praise for venturing to Washington, D.C., to talk to Trump, a Republican, on Wednesday.

On what was going through her head at the moment, Whitmer said, “I don’t want my picture taken. That’s all it was. I kinda wish I hadn’t put my folder up in front of my face. But whatever."

“I just wrote a book about learning to laugh at yourself. So I’m pretty good at it," she added, referring to her book "True Gretch."

Whitmer talked about her economic development and road funding policy agenda at the Detroit Economic Club meeting Monday amid turmoil in Michigan's auto industry over President Donald Trump's tariffs on imported vehicles and parts, including cars the Detroit Three automakers assemble in plants in Canada, Mexico and overseas.

She then participated in a question-and-answer session on stage with Jamie Jacob, CEO of Ajax Paving Industries Inc., a Troy-based road construction company.

Whitmer reenacted covering her face with a blue folder while on stage with Jacob. The businessman said he thought Whitmer gave a "great" speech on tariffs in Washington, D.C., before the meeting with Trump, but he woke up and found her picture "in the paper."

Whitmer's speech in Detroit at the MotorCity Casino Hotel, before a crowd of about 470 people, came five days after she was in the Oval Office for a meeting with Trump and became part of a press conference he was having to sign a series of executive orders and measures, including a handful that targeted Trump's political enemies.

The governor has defended her decision to remain in the Oval Office after being shuffled into the room by White House aides as Trump was signing orders and addressing reporters.

"It was not where I wanted to be or planned to be or would have liked to have been," Whitmer said Thursday. "I disagree with a lot of stuff that was said and the actions that were taken. But I stayed in the room because I needed to make the case for Michigan, and that's my job."

With cameras rolling, Whitmer and House Speaker Matt Hall, a Republican, talked to the president about the need to build a barrier near Chicago to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes and their request for the Pentagon to assign a new squadron of fighter jets to Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township.

Hall, R-Richland Township, said Sunday that the governor “got caught a little off guard there” in the Oval Office.

But Hall said it was “smart” for Whitmer to work with Trump, who committed to "save Lake Michigan" from Asian carp and that his administration would "come back with a very good answer" for Selfridge's future.

“Governor Whitmer tells me and tells all of us that she does not have presidential ambitions,” Hall said. “If that’s true, then we should be celebrating the fact that we got public commitments on two of our biggest priorities for the state of Michigan at the federal level.”

On Monday, the governor said she went to Washington, D.C., last week to try to advocate for Selfridge and to get Trump to declare a federal emergency in northern Michigan, where severe winter weather has left thousands of residents without power for two weeks.

“If I can get either of those things, it’s all worth it," Whitmer said. "Because I’m just there to fight for the people of Michigan."

On policy, the governor focused much of her speech on road funding. Whitmer said she was "confident" an agreement would be reached in Lansing on improving the state's roadways.

Some experts have said Michigan needs an additional $3.9 billion in money for roads and bridges annually.

"We've been having productive conversations in Lansing for months now," Whitmer said. "And I'm confident that we're going to reach a fair and necessarily bipartisan deal."

Whitmer has proposed a variety of new tax revenues to help fund road improvements while GOP House Speaker Matt Hall of Richland Township wants to shift existing revenue toward roads.

But Whitmer emphasized that new revenue is needed as well as cuts to current spending in the state budget.

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Staff Writer Beth LeBlanc contributed.