Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is one of those Democrats whose name is being bandied about for the 2028 presidential race. 

But maybe not after the picture that the NY Times just published of her at the White House this week. 

She was in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to give a policy speech, and to meet President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to talk about Michigan. During the speech, she mentioned how she supports some aspects of what he has been saying about tariffs. 

Once the auto industry comes back to Michigan because Trump leveled the playing field with these Tariffs

Republicans will never lose Michigan again

Don’t take my word on it, listen to Gretchen Whitmer, who now supports Tariffs

Why.?.. bc they work 👍pic.twitter.com/P9EQjEbDLY

— @Chicago1Ray 🇺🇸 (@Chicago1Ray) April 11, 2025

That of course isn’t going to go over well with some Democrats who now want to use tariffs to attack Trump, and ignore any of the possible benefits. 

Then when she went to the White House, this was the picture where it looked like she wanted to hide. 

“Big Gretch” – epitome of confidence! pic.twitter.com/fXQXQsSRXI

— Sandy 〽️ (@RightGlockMom) April 12, 2025

There was also the one where she definitely looked like she was hiding–and that had everyone talking. 

New photo of Wednesday’s Oval Office encounter involving Governor Whitmer from Eric Lee of The New York Times was published this morning. pic.twitter.com/bdGaaQGMEm

— Zach Gorchow (@ZachGorchow) April 12, 2025

If she wanted to hide that she was meeting with Trump in the Oval Office, she just made it a million times worse. Now, all the focus is on her bad reaction. If you’re going to meet Trump, own it, and say what you are doing is worthwhile. 

Politics is about talking with the other side. If he’s actually acknowledging her, she should have doubled down on how that makes her more worthy than the other likely candidates for 2028. That would have been the way to approach it. But she didn’t, she put folders in front of her face; she looks silly to people on all sides of the aisle now, and she may have just done in her 2028 hopes with that picture. 

The story was she thought it was going to be a one-on-one meeting, and didn’t realize the press might be there; she also didn’t want anyone to think she was endorsing the executive orders that he signed while she was there. But the press is always all over Trump and if she’s going to the White House, she can expect it’s going to be reported on. If you don’t agree with what he signed, you can say that without hiding. 

If she’s too afraid to let her Democrat base know she is meeting with Trump, how cowardly is she? The problem is that the Democrats have painted themselves into such a corner with Trump, declaring him “Hitler,” that they can’t even do normal things like talk to him about business matters.

One Democratic operative who generally supports her termed her presence a “disaster.”

CNN senior reporter Edward-Isaac Dovere called the moment a “huge embarrassment,” while CNN host Audie Cornish said bluntly, “This does not look like the politics of resistance.” 

And they weren’t even talking about the “hiding” picture. On that, people really teed off on her.

My sister did this as a flower girl in my uncle’s wedding. Only difference was that she was 5 https://t.co/MTvMusgsxe

— Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) April 12, 2025

Is @GovWhitmer hiding from the press here? Or still hiding from the people of Michigan? https://t.co/Nr9pJbZ5gk

— Mike Cox (@Mike_Cox) April 12, 2025