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 also 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%.
He 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.
President Donald J. Trump speaks during Make America Great Again rally at Total Sports Park in Washington Township, Saturday, April 28, 2018 (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
Trump spoke to a crowd that filled about two-thirds of the arena 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.
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.
"(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."
From left, Michael Sakowski, 14, Matthew Sakowski, 12, Dylan King, 13, Evan Sakowski, 9, and Bryce King, 13, all of Macomb Township, pose for a photo during President Donald J. Trump's Make America Great Again rally at Total Sports Park in Washington Township, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
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.
Randal Thom of Lakefield, MN, in front of his Trump flag during President Donald J. Trump's Make America Great Again rally at Total Sports Park in Washington Township, Saturday, April 28, 2018. (Photo: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press)
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 didn't support Trump during the 2016 election cycle.
"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, calling Schuette "deplorable," for leaving out the fact that he supported Jeb Bush, not Trump, in the early days of the 2016 elections.
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