Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is back from Europe with plenty of pictures, but not much else to show for her week-long “investment mission.”
“Michigan is ready to build on our rich legacy of innovation and manufacturing excellence and grow our leadership in agriculture, defense, and aerospace,” Whitmer said in a statement Sunday. “I was proud to travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland to strengthen our relationships with business and government leaders, tell our story, and make the case for Michigan as the best place to innovate, build the future, and grow.
“We are opening doors for new investments, competing for projects and good-paying jobs, and securing Michigan’s place at the forefront of innovation,” she said.
While the doors may be open, Whitmer did not announce any investments or companies coming through them.
Instead, the governor lauded her efforts “to attract cutting-edge companies and develop international reputation” in the defense and aerospace industries, highlighting a visit by the “Team Michigan delegation” to the Midlands Aerospace Alliance, a group of 300 aerospace industry members in the UK.
Whitmer said previously the week-long excursion with Michigan Economic Development Corporation CEO Quentin Messer, Michigan Department of Agriculture Director Tim Boring, and Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Scott Bowen also involved “strategic meetings with business leaders, government officials, and industry stakeholders to promote investment opportunities in Michigan.”
The trip follows numerous other international “investment missions,” the governor’s repeated book tours, nonstop social media campaigns and relentless politicking on behalf of Democrats that has fueled criticism Whitmer is prioritizing her political ambitions over her constituents.
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It also prompted Republicans back home to introduce legislation to stop the governor’s unchecked globetrotting at a time when Michigan faces its highest unemployment in years, billions in collapsing business development deals, a vacant state Senate seat, the lowest student reading scores in a decade, a $3.9 billion road funding shortfall, and the threat of tax hikes to fuel the Whitmer’s record $86 billion budget.
“Governor Whitmer has recently racked up quite the cache of frequent flyer miles on the taxpayers’ dime,” state Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, said in a news release. “Given that the Democrats squandered a $9 billion budget surplus and Governor Whitmer has proposed tax hikes for this year’s budget, this legislation is an important step in strengthening accountability of state resources.”
Carra’s House Bill 4310 would require a roll call vote by the Legislature to authorize taxpayer funding for any overseas trips made by the governor. The legislation, now in the House Committee on Government Operations, would require the governor to provide a detailed plan, including the dates of travel, the destination, and the purpose of the international trip.
And in recent years, Whitmer has taken plenty.
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The governor’s weeklong trek to the UK and Ireland marked the third “investment mission” abroad in just the last five months, following other recent visits to Spain, and the United Arab Emirates.
She also headed to Taiwan in March 2024 and Japan in 2023.
Through the first three quarters of 2024, Whitmer spent a quarter of her time as governor on trips to other places, both national and international, according to analysis by The Detroit News of bonus payments to Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist for serving as governor in her absence.
The analysis showed Gilchrist could have been paid for 78 days, or 29% of the first nine months of 2024, though Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy claimed it was 58 days, or 21%.
In addition to campaign stops on behalf of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Texas, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Illinois, New Hampshire, and elsewhere last year, Whitmer also jetted to Seattle, Santa Monica, San Francisco, Martha’s Vineyard, Washington DC, and Little Rock to promote her book True Gretch.
There were also stops to promote her book on The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert, Good Morning America, The View, CNN and other programs.
Last March, Whitmer headed to sunny San Diego amid a winter storm that knocked out power to an estimated 650,000 Michiganders, although the reason why was unclear.
In May, it was a trip to the 28th Annual Webby Awards in New York City, where she celebrated the “success” of her “Governor Barbie” online campaign in 2023, which featured a Whitmer lookalike cruising the state in a vintage pink Corvette to tout the governor’s policies on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Facebook.
Whitmer’s busy schedule has continued in 2025 with the additional “investment missions” and a second-round book tour to prte the young adult version of True Gretch. The young adult book launched the same week the governor typically delivers her State of the State address, which was delayed this year until February.
The 2025 book tour has so far included events and book signings across Michigan, as well as New York City, Tucson, Washington, DC, Goral Gables, Indianapolis, in addition to numerous television appearances.
While the relentless self-promotion as a potential 2028 presidential candidate is in itself offensive for many, it’s the overseas trips to dole out taxpayer cash for foreign business investments Carra contends is the biggest problem.
“Michigan should attract businesses with an environment that is friendly to all industries, one that doesn’t pick winners or losers,” he said. “Meanwhile, we have a task force studying why people are leaving our state when it’s her crooked policies that are the very problem, making it unattractive to do business here and pushing companies out of our state.”