President Donald Trump plans to hold a rally in Michigan to mark his 100th day in office, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
“President Trump is excited to return to the great state of Michigan next Tuesday, where he will rally in Macomb County to celebrate the FIRST 100 DAYS!” Leavitt said on X.
The trip will be Trump’s first major rally since his inauguration in January and his first visit to the battleground state since he narrowly defeated Kamala Harris to win Michigan in November.
Michigan was among the battleground states Trump visited the most during the 2024 election cycle, notching two dozen visits to the state, at least three of which were in Macomb County. Macomb County is in the south-eastern part of the state, a stone’s throw from Detroit.
He handily won the Republican-leaning county, defeating Harris by double digits.
Trump will visit Michigan weeks after he met with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer following his decision this month to implement tariffs on dozens of nations, many of which were scaled back.
Whitmer had planned to meet with Trump privately to discuss the tariffs, manufacturing and other Michigan issues.
Instead, she was taken into the Oval Office for a media event, during which Trump signed an executive order directing the Justice Department to investigate officials who served in his first administration and called out his false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
Photos showed Whitmer standing uncomfortably against a door and covering her face with a folder as cameras rolled.
“The governor was surprised that she was brought into the Oval Office during President Trump’s press conference without any notice of the subject matter. Her presence is not an endorsement of the actions taken or statements made at that event,” a spokesperson for Whitmer said after the event.
It is unclear whether Whitmer plans to attend Trump’s rally or meet with him while he’s in Michigan. Her office did not respond to request for comment Wednesday night.
Trump told Whitmer during the Oval Office event that he planned to work with Democrats to ensure Selfridge Air Force Base, which is in Macomb County, remains “open, strong and thriving.”
Ahead of her meeting with Trump, Whitmer delivered a speech in Washington calling for a “consistent national strategy” to spur manufacturing, criticizing Trump’s tariff policies while also finding common ground with the president in regard to the stated goal of the import penalties.
“I understand the motivation behind the tariffs, and I can tell you here’s where President Trump and I do agree. We do need to make more stuff in America — more cars and chips, more steel and ships. We do need fair trade,” she said.
Whitmer also suggested in her speech that Trump’s ongoing tariffs on all imported vehicles and plan to implement tariffs on foreign auto parts would disproportionately affect Michigan residents, noting that 20% of the state’s economy is tied to the auto industry.
“We’re already seeing the impacts. Auto companies are stockpiling parts and laying off workers. Suppliers are facing higher costs and delaying expansions. Dealerships will be forced to raise prices by up to $15,000 amid slowing sales. And since every auto job supports three others in the community, the impact will be felt by countless small businesses across Michigan, too,” she said.
Before his visit to Macomb, Trump will travel to Rome for the funeral for Pope Francis on Saturday.
