Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said her appearance at the Oval Office was not an "endorsement" of President Donald Trump, as the Democrat has faced backlash for her latest White House visit.

Whitmer appeared alongside Trump on Wednesday after delivering a speech in which she said she understood some of "the motivation" behind the president's now largely paused global tariff plans.

Newsweek has contacted Whitmer's office for comment via email.

President Donald Trump praised Gretchen Whitmer in a White House meeting on Wednesday, echoing a bipartisan message the Michigan governor delivered during an earlier speech in Washington, D.C.

The meeting was Whitmer’s second sit-down with the president since he took office. She raised the ongoing ice storm in northern Michigan, investments in the Selfridge Air National Guard Base outside of Detroit, invasive fish in the Great Lakes and the hottest topic of the day — tariffs — according to a spokesperson for the governor.

For the second time in a month, Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was scheduled to meet with second-term Republican President Donald Trump on Wednesday as the state continues to confront tariff and manufacturing issues.

Before that meeting, Whitmer delivered a speech near the White House to lay out her long-term ideas to grow American manufacturing and build national defense.

Earlier this year, Whitmer was a vocal critic of Trump’s tariff plans but has been relatively silent since broad taxes on goods entering the country were enacted last week.