Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Winnie Brinks and Republican House Speaker Matt Hall on Thursday announced a tentative budget deal for the state and schools has been reached, and will include dedicated long-term funding for road repairs as well. (Emily Elconin for Bridge Michigan)
  • Gov. Gretchen Whitmer makes third visit to White House this year to lobby President Donald Trump
  • Democratic governor says she talked Medicaid cuts, tariffs and more with the Republican president
  • Whitmer also discussed Genesee County megasite after company scrapped plans for a massive semiconductor manufacturing facility

LANSING — Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer visited President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, lobbying him to delay implementation of a Medicaid change in his signature tax and spending law that could cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, among other things. 

“I told him and his team about the impact tariffs are having on Michigan’s economy, especially our auto industry, the harm Michigan will face due to changes in the Medicaid program, and ongoing recovery efforts following the ice storm in Northern Michigan this year,” Whitmer said in a statement.

It was the Democratic governor’s third White House meeting with the Republican president this year. 

According to Whitmer’s office, she asked Trump to give Michigan three years to transition to a new funding framework for Medicaid, the government-run health insurance program that 2.6 million Michiganders rely on for medical care.

But Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill” is expected to freeze some states’ ability to collect provider taxes and prohibit Michigan’s Insurance Provider Assessment, which generates about $450 million in annual revenue for the state and allows it to access another $1 billion in federal matching funds.

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The rule that would implement the freeze, however, has not yet been finalized. Eliminating the tax would create “serious financial consequences” for the state, according to the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan. 

The state would have to find another $450 million to offset the losses and avoid “major Medicaid spending reductions,” according to the think tank, which estimates the new federal law will create a larger $1.1 billion hole in the state budget next fiscal year. 

Medicaid represents about a third of the state budget — $27 billion.

Whitmer, who again said Tuesday that she will “work with anyone to get things done for Michigan,” has taken a markedly different approach to Trump than other Democratic governors like JB Pritzker of Illinois, who has been openly oppositional. 

In her Tuesday statement, Whitmer said she appreciated “the president’s time and attention to the matters we discussed.”

Trump in turn has changed his tune toward the governor he once jokingly called “half Whitmer,” saying in April “she’s really done an excellent job,” and is “a very good person.”

Whitmer says her meetings with Trump have borne fruit: He has pledged funding for a new fighter jet mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, backed plans for an Illinois barrier meant to keep invasive Asian carp from the Great Lakes and last month announced $50 million in aid for swaths of northern Michigan devastated by an ice storm in late March. 

Her latest meeting with Trump came less than a month after she blamed “national economic turmoil” when plans for a massive semiconductor manufacturer facility in Genesee County fell through. 

Whitmer later said Trump promised to help find a “better deal” for the 1,300-acre megasite in Mundy Township. And her office said she broached that subject again in Tuesday’s White House meeting. 

While Whitmer has sharply criticized Trump’s imposition of tariffs, she largely avoided direct criticism of the president while emphasizing the potential damage import taxes could sow among the state’s automotive and agricultural sectors. 

Last week, Whitmer sent a government-wide executive directive for state agencies to assess the impact of tariffs on Michigan’s economy and report back to her in 30 days. 

“Tariffs have weakened Michigan supply chains, increased costs for family budgets, and caused major firms to scale back operations in Michigan,” the governor said in a prior statement. “While I can’t control tariffs, I can make sure you know how they will affect your life and do everything in my power to help.”

A White House spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the meeting. 

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