President Donald Trump tells Michigan crowd: I love this state

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – Since Macomb County helped deliver the presidency to Donald Trump, he decided to return the favor Saturday night.

He came to Washington Township to tout his record since being inaugurated in 2017 and urge a huge crowd at the Total Sports Park arena to get to the polls in November to elect Republicans.

"I love this state and I love the people of this state," he said. "I was invited to another event tonight, but I’d much rather be in Washington, Michigan, than Washington D.C."

The event was a counterpunch to the annual White House Correspondents Association Dinner, which was held Saturday night in Washington. Trump, who has a contentious relationship with the media, is the first president not to attend the dinner since 1981 when President Ronald Reagan was recovering after being shot in an assassination attempt.

Trump in 2016 became the first Republican presidential nominee since George H.W. Bush in 1988 to win Michigan, in no small part because he did so well in Macomb County, which he won 54% to 42%.

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While the 80-minute speech was filled with talk of the need for a wall at the southern border and a continuation of removing regulations and cutting taxes, Trump also made some news for Michigan at the rally when he said he wants the federal government to fix the badly deteriorating Soo Locks, which connect Lake Superior and Lake Huron in Sault Ste. Marie. The locks are crucial to the shipping industry in Michigan.

“Your lock, it’s not looking too well," Trump told the crowd, pledging, “We're going to start (on an upgrade) as soon as I get back” to Washington, D.C.

In fact, depending on how long his speech ran, he said he might even call the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers about the project Saturday night, though it might not happen until Sunday.

Gov. Rick Snyder and Michigan members of Congress are pushing for a new supersize navigation lock at Sault Ste. Marie, saying only one lock is capable of handling the largest freighters and if it goes out of service for any long duration, it could decimate the U.S. economy.

“After spending all that money in the Mideast, can you imagine — we can't fix a lock," Trump said.

But he gave no details about the scope of his promised project or where the funding would come from. A Snyder spokesperson could not immediately be reached for comment.

Trump said he owes some of his success to Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee and former chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party.

"When we needed someone at the RNC, I said, 'get that woman from Michigan,' " he said.

Macomb Water Resources Commissioner Candice Miller suggested that Trump should be awarded the Nobel Prize and the crowd quickly picked up the "Nobel, Nobel, Nobel" chant during the president's speech, prompting a chuckle from Trump.

The president spoke to a crowd of thousands that filled about two-thirds of the arena and spilled out into the parking lot outside and they showed their support with cheers, MAGA hats and T-shirts bearing his name and likeness. They were happy with the tax cuts he pushed through Congress as well as his Cabinet picks.

"(Defense Secretary James) Mattis was a great pick, he's done wonders with foreign policy and (Secretary of State) Mike Pompeo — that was a great addition," said Brandon Mikula, a Macomb Township resident and operations manager for a security company. "And, contrary to popular belief, he's doing good around the world. Look at North Korea and South Korea, that's a pretty big accomplishment."

Dalton MacKay, a security guard from Romeo, wore a neon green sweatshirt that included Trump's likeness on the back to show his support for the president, who he feels is responsible for a bump in his pay.

"I was being taxed at 25% and it's now 20%. And that means an extra $60 or $70 bucks in my paycheck," he said. "And I like how he is direct with people, he doesn't beat around the bush."

Cris Birdsong left her Grand Rapids house at 7 a.m. to make it to the rally about seven hours before it started. As a recent transplant from Alabama, Birdsong said he was thrilled with the opportunity to see a sitting president who she supported.

She also just got a job after 10 weeks in the state as a project manager for a construction company. She thinks the proposal to raise tariffs on steel and aluminum imported into the U.S. might have an impact on the construction industry, "but it will even out on other materials."

And while she hasn't gotten a paycheck yet to determine the impact of the tax cuts, "my daughter lives here and saw a $38 bump in her paycheck," Birdsong said.

Meanwhile, about 7 miles south of the Trump rally, about 150 Democrats gathered at a UAW hall, not to protest the president's visit to the county that helped push him over the top in Michigan, but to talk about their own agenda.

"We've been talking a lot about Trump, but just because he's coming to Macomb County doesn't mean he gets to steer the message," said Jeremy Fisher of Warren. "We're not going to be talking about him or his agenda, but a positive message about our own agenda."

Pam Kellar, a retired teacher from Washington Township, said the Democratic rally in Shelby Township had a second purpose also: preparing the message for the 2018 election cycle.

"And we have to shake up this county and let them know there is a blue wave coming," she said. "There's a lot of voter remorse in this county and I think we need to send a message to the Republican Party. You better wake up, because we're coming. We're ready to fight this to the bitter end."

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, who was in a wheelchair, and Col. Shawn Holtz, support group commander of Selfridge Air base, greeted the president when the plane landed shortly after 6 p.m. Along the way to the event, supporters waved, hoisted flags and cheered as the presidential motorcade whizzed by. A few people raised their middle fingers in salute to Trump.

It was a familiar sight for Trump, who appeared at a big rally at the Freedom Hill Ampitheatre in Sterling Heights the weekend before the 2016 election. Saturday's event in Macomb County was the 11th rally Trump has held in Michigan and the fifth rally in metro Detroit since first announcing his run for president in June 2015. He also appeared a huge rally at Macomb County Community College on the Friday before the 2016 election.

Trump has only made one visit to Michigan as president — an event in Ypsilanti Township in March 2017, when he talked about revisiting fuel standards for vehicles and renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Saturday's rally also served as a cage fight for the race for the Republican nomination for governor. Attorney General Bill Schuette, called the rally a "Trump/Schuette" rally and took a veiled swipe at his GOP rival in the race, Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, who withdrew his endorsement of Trump in October 2016.

Trump, who endorsed Schuette for governor in September, praised the attorney general near the start of his remarks.

"President Trump is coming here to help me and I appreciate his support," Schuette said. "He knows who's with him and who deserted him and cut and run."

Calley issued a news release highlighting the fact that Schuette was initially the Michigan chairman of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's presidential campaign and saying it was Schuette, in May 2016, who first used the word "deplorable" in relation to remarks by Trump.

Trump also attacked U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, who is up for re-election in November, but he did not mention any of the Republicans seeking the nomination to go against her.

Trump noted Stabenow voted against his tax cut plan and said: "Debbie Stabenow is one of the leaders for weak borders and letting people in."

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal