Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday said that she does not plan to run for president in 2028, rebuffing assumptions that she would join what\u2019s expected to be a crowded Democratic primary race.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThere will be a robust group of people running for president,\u201d Whitmer told Fox 2 Detroit<\/a> in an interview Thursday, adding, \u201cI will not be one of them in 2028, I can tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for further comment from NBC News.<\/p>\n Whitmer\u2019s remarks come as she nears the end of her second term, which will wrap up at the end of this year. Because of term limits, she cannot run for a third term as governor.<\/p>\n The governor \u2014 and more than a dozen other high-profile Democrats \u2014 has been widely discussed <\/a>as potential 2028 contenders.<\/p>\n And on Thursday, a person close to Whitmer, granted anonymity to share observations about her, suggested the remarks were not an unequivocal closing of the 2028 door. <\/p>\n Whitmer, this person said, often focuses on what\u2019s immediately in front of her and not political races years into the future. The governor, they added, is not a \u201cnever\u201d kind of person.<\/p>\n A 2025 trip to Washington, though, stoked anger from other Democrats<\/a> after she gave a speech identifying common ground with President Donald Trump and later appeared with him in the Oval Office. A now-infamous photo<\/a> of the governor covering her face with folders in the Oval Office went viral after the meeting.<\/p>\n And almost a year ago, as Whitmer and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., were fueling speculation that two women from the battleground state could run for president in 2028, two Democratic operatives close to the governor seemed skeptical<\/a> that she would go through with a presidential campaign.<\/p>\n The potential 2028 field includes a handful of other Democrats, including governors, such as Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.<\/p>\n Moore, like Whitmer, has also denied that he wants to run for president in two years.<\/p>\n The Maryland governor told NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press\u201d<\/a> last year, \u201cI\u2019m not running for president.\u201d<\/p>\n But even broad declarations against presidential campaigns don\u2019t preclude political observers from including politicians on lists of potential 2028 candidates.<\/p>\n In 2006, then-Sen. Barack Obama told \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d<\/a> \u201cI won\u2019t run\u201d for president; he went on to win the Democratic nomination and the presidency just two years later.<\/p>\n Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., also said, \u201cI have no intention\u201d to run for president on \u201cMeet the Press\u201d<\/a> in 2018, and she later launched a campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president.<\/p>\n