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Whitmer Shows How Democrats Are Playing With Fire in Cozying Up to Trump

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Whitmer Shows How Democrats Are Playing With Fire in Cozying Up to Trump

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan stood glumly in the Oval Office, hoping no one would take her picture.

She had not expected to be there, standing in front of the cameras, as President Trump signed executive orders punishing those who opposed his 2020 election lies. Ms. Whitmer, a prominent Democrat seen as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, had come to the White House to discuss funding for an Air National Guard base near Detroit and aid for thousands of Michiganders who had just been hit by an ice storm.

Then Mr. Trump’s aides surprised her on Wednesday by ushering her into the Oval Office not for her scheduled one-on-one meeting with the president, but for a politically loaded appearance before the press corps. She found herself an unwilling participant in his unending reality show, with photos of her rocketing around group chats of Democratic strategists who wondered what on earth she was doing.

The episode was the result of a remarkable attempt at reconciliation between Ms. Whitmer and Mr. Trump, who dismissed her in 2020 as “that woman from Michigan” during a clash over his administration’s pandemic response.

The day after the inauguration, Ms. Whitmer penned a handwritten letter — which has not been previously reported — congratulating Mr. Trump, saying she looked forward to working together and praising his support for the auto industry in his first address, according to a person who relayed the text of the letter. Ms. Whitmer included her cellphone number and invited Mr. Trump to call her if she could be of any help to him.

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The outreach worked for her, but it came at a cost.

Her whipsaw experience with Mr. Trump illustrates the political risks that Democratic governors face as a small group of them try to cultivate relationships with a president reviled by their party but in control of vast amounts of federal funding for states.

These governors — exemplified by Ms. Whitmer but also including Gavin Newsom of California, Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Kathy Hochul of New York — have met with the president in the Oval Office, fielded his phone calls and toned down their language toward him.

Many Democrats see Mr. Trump as a transactional politician who is susceptible to flattery and are acutely aware of how he has sought to punish liberal states and groups. He has aimed to cut off billions of dollars to universities in states with Democratic governors and threatened funding for local public education and public health, leaving state leaders scrambling to find alternative sources of cash or cut spending in other areas.

But Democratic governors also have their own political ambitions to consider. Many in the party see their state leaders as the best hope to win back the White House in 2028, and the liberal base increasingly wants elected officials to aggressively fight Mr. Trump’s actions.

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That is why a second group of Democratic governors, led by JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania and Tim Walz of Minnesota, has been more publicly antagonistic toward Mr. Trump. Their tougher stance may reflect how they have one eye on their own re-election bids in 2026 and another on the 2028 Democratic presidential primary contest.

“Democrats from the center to the left believe Trump is an autocrat who represents an existential threat to democracy and our rights,” said Neera Tanden, the chief executive of the Center for American Progress, a top liberal think tank. “They expect their leaders to meet the moment by fighting his dictatorial attacks, not placate, negotiate or assuage because doing so makes him stronger and bully others more.”

In an interview on Friday, Ms. Whitmer said she had no regrets.

“Public service is about putting the people of Michigan before my own interest,” she said. “My job was to try to get help for people who were suffering as a result of the ice storm, to land more investment at Selfridge air base, to protect the Great Lakes and to fight for the auto industry. And that’s what I was doing.”

She added, “I’m always going to show up for the people of Michigan, and that’s probably why I got elected by double digits.”

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Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. dealt with Republican governors much differently, barely speaking with them except about disaster relief.

But with Mr. Trump in office, Democratic governors have found more opportunities.

Several beyond Ms. Whitmer, including Ms. Hochul, Mr. Murphy and Mr. Newsom, have had one-on-one meetings with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office, with one of Ms. Hochul’s sessions lasting two hours.

The president also calls Democratic governors, and picks up calls from them, with some frequency. He has given several of them his cellphone number.

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Mr. Murphy has a longstanding relationship with Mr. Trump, forged during the pandemic and bolstered by the president’s frequent trips to his golf club in New Jersey. After the president was shot at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa., in July, Mr. Murphy and his wife, Tammy, visited him in Bedminster, N.J.

With Mr. Trump back in office, Mr. Murphy has sought to find common ground with him in opposing congestion pricing in New York City and fixing sinkholes on Interstate 80 in New Jersey.

When Mr. Murphy and his wife were at the White House in February for a National Governors Association dinner, the New Jersey governor invited Mr. Trump to an upcoming ribbon-cutting for the new Portal North Bridge over the Hackensack River. Ms. Murphy also invited Mr. Trump to come to an Ultimate Fighting Championship event in June in Newark.

Mr. Trump expressed interest — but the governor’s outreach has not spared him the Trump administration’s ire. The top federal prosecutor in New Jersey, a Trump ally, said on Friday that she planned to investigate Mr. Murphy over immigration policy.

In December, before Mr. Trump was inaugurated, Mr. Newsom talked himself up as a leading figure in the Democratic opposition to Mr. Trump. But his posture changed after fires ravaged greater Los Angeles in January, leaving the California governor in need of nearly $40 billion in federal aid.

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When Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, arrived to review damage from the blazes, Mr. Newsom met them at the airport and kissed Mrs. Trump on the cheek. Shortly after, he traveled to Washington for a 90-minute meeting in the Oval Office. Mr. Newsom has also hosted Trump allies including Charlie Kirk and Stephen K. Bannon on his new podcast.

Ms. Hochul has had two Oval Office meetings with Mr. Trump and is in regular contact with him. She said in an interview that he had called her occasionally to check up on New York projects that interested him. Last week, on the day he announced far-reaching tariffs, she recalled, Mr. Trump phoned her to ask questions about Penn Station and Amtrak.

Asked to describe their lengthy conversations, Ms. Hochul replied, “I listen a lot.”

She went on: “I’m always willing to engage and talk and listen and find out areas where I can do what I have to do, which is, No. 1, to protect New York State. When you challenge our values or our policies, then we have a fight. But I can also be adversarial without being acrimonious, and work toward common areas.”

Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, said in a statement: “It’s no surprise every elected official in America — Republican or Democrat — wants a productive working relationship with President Trump. Because President Trump is the president of all Americans, he continues to work with anyone that is willing to help advance policies that benefit the American people.”

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Plenty of other Democratic governors have kept their distance from Mr. Trump.

Aides to Gov. Maura Healey of Massachusetts, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico, Mr. Pritzker, Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Walz, among others, said each politician had yet to have a one-on-one meeting or phone call with Mr. Trump since he returned to power.

Mr. Shapiro, Mr. Pritzker and Mr. Walz, who are seen as some of the party’s most ambitious leaders, have been among the more forceful voices pushing back against Mr. Trump.

And despite Mr. Trump’s more conciliatory approach with some Democratic governors, he has still lashed out at others, especially when it serves his political agenda.

In February, he hosted a bipartisan group of governors at the White House as part of a weekend of events coordinated by the National Governors Association. During the meeting, Mr. Trump attacked Gov. Janet Mills of Maine, a Democrat, over her state’s policies on transgender athletes’ participation in sports.

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After the dust-up, Ms. Healey convened what three people with knowledge of the planning called “an emergency cocktail hour” to discuss how to respond. Ms. Healey urged fellow governors to skip a dinner at the White House that night in protest.

“It was appalling and shocking what happened to Governor Mills and the way she was treated during that business meeting,” Ms. Healey said in an interview on Friday. “I think there was a feeling coming out of it shared by a lot of us that was just really wrong and we needed to come together and process some of that.”

But many Democrats attended anyway — and after the dinner, Mr. Trump led a bipartisan group of governors and their spouses on a nearly hourlong, impromptu tour of the White House. The president took them through the residence, showing off the Lincoln Bedroom and the Yellow Oval Room while regaling the group with historical facts, and finished the jaunt in the Oval Office.

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Video: The G.O.P. Rush To Break Up Majority-Black Districts

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Video: The G.O.P. Rush To Break Up Majority-Black Districts

new video loaded: The G.O.P. Rush To Break Up Majority-Black Districts

Republican-controlled legislatures in the South are breaking up majority-Black congressional districts in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling. Our national politics reporter Nick Corasaniti describes what it means for the midterms.

By Nick Corasaniti, Laura Bult, June Kim, Edward Vega and Leanne Abraham

May 9, 2026

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Harris accuses Trump allies of trying to ‘rig’ 2026 midterms after Virginia court tosses redistricting measure

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Harris accuses Trump allies of trying to ‘rig’ 2026 midterms after Virginia court tosses redistricting measure

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Former Vice President Kamala Harris accused President Donald Trump and Republicans of trying to “rig the 2026 elections” after the Virginia Supreme Court invalidated a voter-approved redistricting referendum, a ruling she said would “give a boost” to that effort.

“Today, the Virginia Supreme Court ignored the will of the people and overturned those democratically chosen maps,” Harris wrote on X on May 8.

“This ruling gives a boost to Donald Trump’s effort to rig the 2026 elections and the Republicans’ long game to attack voting rights,” she added.

The ruling marked a significant victory for Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms and escalated an already intensifying national battle over redistricting and control of Congress.

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VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT RULES ON NEW CONGRESSIONAL MAP

Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a fireside chat at MEET Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev., on May 7, 2026. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)

“We hold that the legislative process employed to advance this proposal violated Article XII, Section 1 of the Constitution of Virginia,” the state’s high court said in its decision. “This constitutional violation incurably taints the resulting referendum vote and nullifies its legal efficacy.”

The measure, which passed by a narrow 51% to 49% margin, would have temporarily shifted redistricting authority from Virginia’s nonpartisan commission to the Democrat-controlled legislature through 2030 and was expected to yield a 10-1 Democratic advantage in the state’s congressional delegation.

Trump praised the decision in a post on Truth Social, calling it a “Huge win for the Republican Party, and America, in Virginia.”

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‘JUSTICE’: CELEBRATION, MOCKERY ERUPT AFTER SPANBERGER ‘GERRYMANDER’ IS BLOWN UP IN BLOCKBUSTER DECISION

Former Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a fireside chat at MEET Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev., on May 7, 2026. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)

“The Virginia Supreme Court has just struck down the Democrats’ horrible gerrymander,” he wrote.

Democrats sharply criticized the ruling. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said “a group of unelected judges on the Virginia Supreme Court chose to put partisan politics over the will of the people.”

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones also pushed back, saying the decision “silences the voices of the millions of Virginians who cast their ballots” and that his office is evaluating “every legal pathway forward.”

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ERIC HOLDER ACCUSES GOP OF ‘STEALING SEATS’ WHILE DEFENDING ‘FAIR’ DEMOCRATIC REDISTRICTING PUSH

A person votes in the Virginia redistricting referendum at Fairfax Government Center in Fairfax, Va., on April 21, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP)

Harris echoed that sentiment in her post, writing, “We are rightfully outraged, but we will not give up. We must continue our fight to restore the power of the people.”

Her comments come as she has stepped up attacks on Trump in recent appearances while facing renewed questions about her political future.

At a recent event in Las Vegas, Harris said, “For far too many people in our country, the American dream, is not real. And in fact, for many people in their lived experience, it’s what they would consider an American myth.”

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KAMALA HARRIS’ TRAVELS AND COMMENTS CLEARLY POINT TO 2028

The approved referendum could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in Virginia’s congressional delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge, if the court’s do not ultimately strike it down. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

She also declined to downplay Trump, saying, “I’m not going to dismiss him as being an idiot. He’s dangerous.”

At the same time, top Democrats have been reluctant to weigh in on whether Harris should lead the party in 2028.

“I have no idea,” Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., told Fox News Digital when asked about her future.

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“I have no idea who’s running, and we’ll focus on 2028 after 2026,” Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said.

Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., said the decision ultimately rests with Harris but added he believes Democrats should have “a wide-open Democratic primary.”

The Virginia ruling is the latest flashpoint in a broader redistricting fight as both parties position themselves ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Harris, for her part, signaled she intends to remain engaged.

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“I firmly and strongly believe that when you feel powerless, you are powerless,” Harris said. “And when you feel powerful, you are powerful. And we are powerful and we are powerful. And so let’s just show ourselves, each other, our power around the midterms and every day.”

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch, Leo Briceno, Olivia Palombo, and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this reporting.

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California abortion pill suppliers ready with workaround in case of Supreme Court ban

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California abortion pill suppliers ready with workaround in case of Supreme Court ban

The last time the Supreme Court threatened to end access to the country’s most popular abortion method, California’s network of online providers and their pharmaceutical suppliers scrambled to respond.

Now, with the fate of the cocktail used in roughly two-thirds of U.S. terminations once again in the balance, they’re not even breaking a sweat.

Dr. Michele Gomez, co-founder of the MYA Network, a consortium of virtual reproductive healthcare providers, said the supply chain is “ready to switch in a day” to an alternative drug combination.

“It’s not going away and it’s not going to slow down,” Gomez said.

On May 1, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled to block the drug mifepristone from being prescribed virtually and shipped through the mail, making such deliveries illegal across the country. On Monday, the Supreme Court stayed that decision, allowing prescriptions to resume until the court issues an emergency ruling next week.

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Mifepristone is the first half of a two-drug protocol for medication abortion, which made up 63% of all legal abortions in the U.S. in 2023.

Between a quarter and a third of those abortion drugs are now prescribed by healthcare providers over the internet and delivered by mail — a path Louisiana and other ban states are fighting to bar.

“Abortion access has gone up with all the telehealth providers,” Gomez said. “We uncovered an unmet need.”

But the cocktail’s second ingredient, misoprostol, can be used to produce abortion on its own — a method that’s often more painful and slightly less effective.

It would be easy for suppliers to switch to a misoprostol-only protocol — and much harder for courts to block it, experts said.

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“We heard about this on Friday and organizations that mail pills were mailing misoprostol on Saturday,” Gomez said. “They already knew what to do.”

After the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in 2022, California became one of the first states to enshrine abortion rights for residents in its Constitution and legislate protection for clinicians who prescribe abortion pills to women in states with bans.

Last fall, legislators in Sacramento expanded those protections by allowing pills to be mailed without either the doctor or the patient’s name attached.

But cases like the one being decided next week could still sharply limit abortion rights even in states with extensive legal protections, experts warned.

Even though California has built a fortress around its own constitutional protections of reproductive freedom, those [protections] become vulnerable to the whims of antiabortion states if the Supreme Court gives those states their imprimatur,” said Michele Goodwin, professor at Georgetown Law and an expert on reproductive justice.

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Coral Alonso sings in Spanish as protesters rally on the three-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade on June 24, 2025, in Los Angeles. The ruling ended the federal right to legal abortion in the United States.

(David McNew / Getty Images)

Legal experts are split over how the justices will decide the medication’s mail-order fate.

“This is a case where law clearly won’t matter,” said Eric J. Segall, a law professor at Georgia State University and an expert on the Supreme Court.

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“In a very important midterm election year, I think there’s at least two Republicans on the court who will decide that upholding the 5th Circuit would really hurt the Republicans at the polls,” he said. “If women can’t get this by mail in California or other blue states where abortion is legal, it’s going to have devastating consequences, and I think the court knows that.”

But he and others believe it’s no longer a matter of if — but when and how — the drugs are restricted, including in California.

“This is curating a backdrop for a legal showdown that may surely come,” Goodwin said.

The court’s most conservative justices could find grounds to act in the long-forgotten Comstock Act of 1873. The brainchild of America’s zealously anti-porn postmaster Anthony Comstock, the law not only banned the mailing of the “Birth of Venus” and “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” but also condoms, diaphragms and any drug, tool or text that could be used to produce an abortion.

Though it hasn’t been enforced since the 1970s, the antiabortion provision of the law remains on the books, experts said.

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“The next move is with the Comstock Act, which Justices Alito and Thomas have already been hinting at,” Goodwin said. “In that case, it’s like playing Monopoly — we could skip mifepristone and go straight to contraception. The goal is to make sure none of that gets to be in the mail.”

That move would upend how Americans get both abortions and birth control, and put an unassuming L.A. County pharmacy squarely in the government’s crosshairs.

Although doctors in nearly two dozen states can safely prescribe medication abortion to women anywhere in the U.S., only a handful of specialty pharmacies actually fill those mail orders, Gomez explained. Among the largest is Honeybee in Culver City, which did not reply to requests for comment.

Even if the justices don’t reach for Comstock, a decision in Louisiana’s favor next week could create a two-tiered system of abortion across California and other blue states, experts said.

“The people this case hurts the most are the poor and the rural,” said Segall, the Supreme Court expert.

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National data show that abortion patients are disproportionately poor. Most are also already mothers. Losing mail access to mifepristone would leave many with the more painful, less effective option while those with the time and means to reach a clinic continue to get the gold standard of care.

“There are fundamental questions of citizenship at the heart of this,” said Goodwin, the constitutional scholar. “Under the 14th Amendment, women are supposed to have equality, citizenship, liberty. It’s as though the Supreme Court has taken a black marker and pressed it against all of those words.”

For Gomez and other providers, that’s tomorrow’s problem.

“The lawyers and the politicians are just going to do their thing,” the doctor said. “The healthcare providers are just trying to get medications to people who need them.”

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