Trump plans to visit Michigan next week, sources say, after Rome trip for pope's funeral

Melissa Nann Burke, The Detroit News on Apr 23, 2025

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump is planning to travel to Michigan on Tuesday, according to two Republican sources briefed on his plans. It would be the president's first visit to the battleground state since winning the November election.

The White House has not confirmed the trip and did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday night. No location for the visit has been set yet, the sources said.

Trump last traveled to the state in November for his final campaign rally in Grand Rapids before the polls opened on Election Day.

This month, Trump said he was working with Michigan leaders to keep Macomb County's Selfridge Air National Guard Base "open, strong, thriving" ― teasing the possibility of new fighter jets.

"I think we're going to be successful, governor. I think we'll be very successful there," Trump said about Selfridge in remarks in the Oval Office with Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Republican state House Speaker Matt Hall standing near the president's desk.

"We've gotten some good feedback from (Defense Secretary) Pete Hegseth and the Department of Defense, and talking about F-16s and talking about F-35s, and, you know, et cetera. It's a great piece of property. It's a great location, and it's a great state. So I think we're going to come back with a very good answer."

During the same meeting with television cameras present, Trump also raised the need to block Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. Whitmer, in previous meetings with the president this year, has brought up the need to fund an Army Corps of Engineers project in Illinois at the Brandon Road Lock & Dam that would install several methods to serve as a barrier, preventing carp from proceeding up the state's waterways and infiltrating Lake Michigan.

Prior to his visit to Michigan, Trump is expected to travel to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, who died Monday. It would be the president's first foreign trip of his second administration.

“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!” Trump posted on Truth Social Monday afternoon, referring to first lady Melania Trump.

Francis met Easter Sunday morning with Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert. Vance was in mid-Michigan on March 14 and spoke inside Vantage Plastics, a plastics manufacturer in Bay County.

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(Detroit News staff writer Craig Mauger contributed to this story.)

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