Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer credited President Donald Trump with helping secure a new fighter jet mission for Selfridge Air National Guard Base, saying the project failed to make it across the finish line during the Biden administration.
Appearing Thursday on California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s podcast, “This Is Gavin Newsom,” the Democratic governor discussed her working relationship with the Trump administration and pointed to the Selfridge project as an example of an issue where cooperation produced results for Michigan.
Gretchen Whitmer admits Trump gets more done than Biden:
“I tried to get that done during the Biden administration… but I got it done with him [Trump]”
This is what it looks like having a president who actually works and cares pic.twitter.com/JaqG8pnKGL
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) August 16, 2026
“I’ve gotten some really good stuff done. Honestly,” Whitmer told Newsom. “I got a fighter mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and I tried to get that done under the Biden administration, couldn’t get over the finish line, but I got it done with him. So, that’s a huge deal to Michigan.”
The new mission will replace Selfridge’s retiring A-10 Warthogs with 21 F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets, which are scheduled to begin arriving in fiscal year 2028. The project also includes infrastructure improvements at the Macomb County base and is expected to help preserve thousands of jobs tied to Selfridge and the surrounding economy, explained Fox News.
Trump announced the F-15EX mission in April 2025 during a visit to Selfridge marking his first 100 days back in office. Whitmer joined him at the event, where Trump thanked the governor for advocating for the base and credited bipartisan efforts with helping secure its future.
The future of Selfridge had been a longstanding concern for Michigan officials as the Air Force moved to retire the A-10 fleet without initially assigning the base a replacement fighter mission.
Whitmer also told Newsom that she reached out to Trump following the 2024 presidential election. She said she sent him a congratulatory note, referenced his comments about auto workers and offered to work together, including providing him with her phone number.
“And he called me. And he’s called me a number of times since then,” Whitmer recalled.
Whitmer said she has learned how to work with political figures she is “not best friends with, to put it lightly,” even when she disagrees with them on other issues.
The Democratic governor has maintained a working relationship with the Trump administration on several Michigan priorities, including federal disaster assistance and military investment. Trump carried Michigan in the 2024 presidential election.
In May, Whitmer signed a bipartisan $152 million state funding package for runway and infrastructure improvements at Selfridge designed to prepare the base for the arrival of the F-15EX aircraft and help unlock additional federal investment.
Whitmer’s comments drew attention over the weekend after a clip from the podcast circulated on social media, highlighting a rare public acknowledgment from a Democratic governor that the Trump administration delivered a major state priority that the Biden administration, too incompetent to process, couldn’t handle.
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