LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s pitch to President Donald Trump about bringing a semiconductor manufacturing plant to Genesee County may be short-lived once Trump learns she’s given taxpayer money to China to set up shop in Michigan.

The Michigan governor sat at a table with President Trump over the weekend at a White House dinner honoring the bipartisan National Governors Association, of which she’s now a member. Whitmer has clashed with Trump in the past but said she’s willing to work with him now; she said Trump invited her to a yet-to-be-determined White House meeting for a follow up conversation.

Trump’s stance.

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On Friday, Trump encouraged foreign investments in the U.S. but also touted the importance of national security as well. He signed a National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM) which specified that foreign investments are necessary for “economic growth, job creation, and innovation.”

However, Trump said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) will ensure China’s restrictions in the U.S. when it comes to “technology, critical infrastructure, healthcare, agriculture, energy, raw materials, and others.” The president said he sees American farmland as a resource to protect from foreign access.

According to the White House, “China owns more than 350,000 acres of farmland across 27 states.”

One of those states is Michigan.

In contrast to Trump’s policies, Gov. Whitmer has invited China into Michigan’s backyard. Whitmer’s partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has allowed millions of dollars in taxpayer money to go to Chinese-based Gotion in Big Rapids and CATL in Marshall. While the future of a potential site in Genesee County is still pending, residents in Clinton County stopped a proposed megasite in its tracks.

China isn’t the only nation Whitmer has courted. Last week, Whitmer returned from a trip to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain where she said she worked to strengthen “global partnerships.” She signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al-Qasimi, Ruler of the Emirate of Ras Al Khamia to “to accelerate job creation through knowledge and talent exchange.”

In addition, Whitmer added in a press release that her trip “aimed to attract high-quality jobs and enhance Michigan’s strategic role in global defense and aerospace supply chains.”

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However, the Free Beacon reported that Whitmer’s Memorandum of Understanding is with a “prominent supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah.” The outlet reported that the sheikh waged “‘hack-and-leak’ operations against business associates and journalists who exposed his ties to Iran.”