John James

MILFORD — President Donald Trump made a July 27 visit to Oakland County, which is ground zero for a noisy split in the MAGA base over who should be Michigan's next governor, eight days before the Michigan primary that will decide the Republican nominee.

Trump on June 22 endorsed U.S. Rep. John James, R-Shelby Township, and Trump's visit to the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford is expected to give James a boost.

Trump didn't sing James's praises during his 65-minute speech, instead drawing from his familiar playbook of talking up his tariff plan to improve the nation's economy and promoting federal legislation he wants passed to put stricter identification requirements on in-person voting and greater limits on mail-in voting.

But he did call James onto the stage along with several other members of Congress and Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Rogers, to say a few words.

"We very much appreciate your leadership," said James, who had thanked Trump for his "complete and total endorsement" during an earlier speech to the crowd, before Trump's arrival. "We have a president who keeps his promises."

But Oakland County Republican Party Chairman Vance Patrick and many of Trump's most vocal Michigan supporters are backing another candidate — self-funded Bloomfield Hills businessman Perry Johnson. As Trump took the stage in front of more than 1,000 people at the General Motors Proving Ground in Milford, Johnson and Patrick were holding a "Trump tailgate" nearby, to show their support for both the president and Johnson.

There, some expressed disdain for James over tailgate tacos and cocktails with names such as “Lansing Shaker” and “Bureaucracy Buster.”

“In my opinion, John James is the most arrogant person I’ve ever met in my entire life,” said Rosanne Ponkowski, 69, of West Bloomfield, a local conservative leader. She echoed some attendees who said that they would vote for James if he is the nominee but wouldn’t do so with much enthusiasm.

The split between Republicans backing James and those backing Johnson has turned nasty. Johnson supporters point out that James has twice lost Michigan statewide elections, with Trump's endorsement, in U.S. Senate bids in 2018 and 2020. James supporters point to Johnson's failure to make the ballot in his first bid for Michigan governor in 2022 and his effort to supplant Trump at the top of the 2024 ticket during his short-lived but costly run for president in 2023.

In his remarks before Trump took the stage, James described the pending 2026 elections as a choice between "freedom or socialism," and "common sense or crazy." He added: "We can't just say, 'Socialism sucks. We must show them something better, together."

House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, speaking to reporters at the event prior to Trump's speech, said he wants to see more unity and less divisiveness in the GOP race for governor.

"I don't think someone can win without Trump's endorsement in Michigan," Hall said. "President Trump's endorsement carries a lot of weight with the voters in this primary … That's why John James is going to win."

As he did during his previous Michigan visit this year, in a Jan. 13 speech to the Detroit Economic Club, Trump touted an economic boom that is a tough sell to audiences experiencing continued high prices for groceries and fuel, aggravated by tariffs and an unpopular war with Iran, despite Trump's campaign promise to tackle inflation on Day One of his second term.

Ahead of Trump's visit, the White House pointed to tax cuts on overtime, tips, and Social Security income and billions of dollars in announced Michigan investments by GM and Ford in their manufacturing operations, and to work underway by Oracle and Related Digital on a massive, $7.4 billion data center in Saline Township, in support of OpenAI.

"We're having the single greatest year we've ever had as a country," Trump told the crowd.

But preliminary seasonally adjusted June numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show employment in autos and auto parts down about 4% nationally from December 2024, the month before Trump took office. In Michigan, total manufacturing jobs fell 2.5% during the same period, records show.

Outside the venue, Elliott Cook, 20, of Lansing, was lined up in support of Trump. Cook said he supports Trump’s endorsement of John James, though he thinks any Republican would suffice for governor.

“The president has spoken on who he feels is the best choice, and if the people of Michigan agree, and that ends up being the best choice, then we're going to fight hard to make sure John gets into office and we can take that governor's office back,” he said.

Cook said he likes the current direction that Trump is taking the Republican Party. He supports the SAVE America Act, which would introduce new voting restrictions, in the Senate.

“I think we just need to continue with this common sense era we’re in, versus the way the Democratic Party’s going," he said.

Dalvin Henderson, 32, from Redford, attended with his brother and his friend in support of Trump. Henderson said he tries to stay in the middle of the aisle, but he’s supporting John James for this governor’s race.

“I think he’s the right guy for the job,” he said.

During an online news conference on the morning of July 27, Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said the president has broken his promises to rein in rising costs and not start new wars.

But Hertel said he welcomes Trump to Michigan. “At the end of the day, I think Donald Trump is the best spokesperson that the Michigan Democratic Party can have,” he said. “We look forward to him being here and taking down the rest of the Republican ticket with him."

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson are the Democrats' choices for governor in the Aug. 4 primary.

Democrats have characterized the upcoming midterm election as a referendum on Trump’s return to the White House.

In his speech at the GM facility, Trump defended the unpopular war with Iran, which has dragged on longer than Trump initially predicted, saying Iran must not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and he is acting where previous presidents have not to prevent that from happening.

"We're beating the hell out of them," Trump said, and "they're talking to us about making a deal." Trump said: "We have destroyed their navy. We have destroyed their air force. We've destroyed their leadership."

Free Press staff writer Clara Hendrickson contributed to this report.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or [email protected].