(WWJ) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday to discuss a range of issues — including U.S. defense and the Great Lakes.
"We're honored to have Gretchen Whitmer from Michigan, great state of Michigan, and she's really done an excellent job; she's a really good person," President Trump said, at an afternoon press briefing.
Trump said he's working with the Whitmer and state leaders in Lansing to assure that Selfridge Air National Guard Base, in Macomb County, is a priority.
It's a bi-partisan effort.
"So, we're working very hard with Democrats, the governor, with (State Rep.) Matt Hall...all of the people trying to keep Selfridge Air Force Base open, strong and thriving," Trump said, addressing Whitmer. "And I think we're gonna be successful, governor. I think we'll be very successful."
"It's a great piece of property, it's a great location, and it's a great state," Trump added. "So, I think we're gonna come back with a very good answer."
Trump said he's also going to "work hard", together with Whitmer, to address the invasive Asian Carp issue in the Great Lakes.
The most recent data indicates invasive carp are just ten miles from the three electric barriers installed in the Chicago Area Waterway System to prevent them from getting into the lakes.
“We have to save Lake Michigan, because these fish, they eat everything in the way, including the other fish,” Trump said of Asian Carp, adding that he's already spoken to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the issue.
Whitmer said stopping those fish is critical to the Great Lakes.
"We work with the Amy Corps and erect a barrier so that the Asian Carp can't get into Lake Michigan," Whitmer said. "And (if the invasive carp get in) it'll devastate the ecosystem, the economy, tourism...and it's 20% of the world's fresh waters in the Great Lakes, Mr. President, which is why it's so important that as a nation we protect the pristine waters."
Whitmer's visit with President Trump came after the governor delivered a speech earlier Wednesday in D.C., laying out a plan to restore America's manufacturing might and protect our national defense.