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President Barack Obama greets auto workers during his visit to the Jefferson North Chrysler Plant in Detroit on Friday.

(AP Photo)

DETROIT, MI - News website Politico reported Tuesday that the White House ruled out a symbolic visit to Detroit on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech despite the city's ties to the historic speech and its financial hardships.

Politico's Glenn Thrush quotes an Obama administration official saying about Detroit, "there's not a goddam we can do right now to help them."

The comment came during a larger piece on Obama's plans to commemorate Wednesday's 50th anniversary of MLK's speech. Thrush writes:

King delivered a version of his "Dream" speech in Detroit in June of 1963, just months before the words were sealed into American history during the March on Washington. Obama is set to deliver a speech Wednesday to mark the anniversary.