News Story
Official’s draw blank when explaining Governor’s $25,000 meal bill in Japan
Courtesy of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has spent about $1 million on international travel in 2025 through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
Lawmakers cited stories reported by Michigan Capitol Confidential to press the development corporation during a House Oversight hearing in mid-October.
Whitmer has taken four international trips this year that total $1 million.
Japan: $216,000:
Australia: $219,622
United Kingdom: $204,000
Germany, Japan, Singapore: $470,000
Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, questioned MEDC officials Christine Armstrong and Michelle Grinnell about how Whitmer’s group spent $25,000 on meals while in Japan.
The officials couldn’t remember the spending, but Carra reminded them, citing a CapCon story.
“I do not have the document you’re looking at in front of me, but I’m happy to look into that,” the government employee said.
Carra replied: “Was this a six-month trip? Or how did we get to $25,000 again?”
.@SteveCarraMI asked the @MEDC for details about Gov. Whitmer’s recent overseas trip. They didn’t have the answer — but CapCon did. pic.twitter.com/xkmTENCDNp
— MichCapCon (@MichCapCon) October 24, 2025
The agency officials claim that this isn’t taxpayer money, but lawmakers were skeptical.
Rep. Dylan Wegela, D-Garden City, and Rep. Jaime Green, R-Richland, said that 89% of the revenue from the economic development agency comes from revenue from tribal casinos and online gambling, which should be considered taxpayer money.
“It’s still public money,” Wegela said “I think that’s some ‘1984’ doublespeak personally.”
Whitmer’s office and the MEDC did not respond to requests for comment.
The economic development agency has taken heat for giving a $10 million taxpayer-funded grant to Fay Beydoun, who spent $4,526 on a Z10 diamond white Jura coffeemaker.
This money could have been spent better, Mike LaFaive, senior director of the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative, told Michigan Capirol Confidential in an email.
“Michigan doesn’t need to send its officials — hat in hand — to schmooze foreign dignitaries and corporate officials in the hope of securing investment here,” LaFaive wrote. “Every dollar spent doing so would be better spent investing in basic state infrastructure and letting the economy take care of itself.
“Michigan used to need to beat people and business back at its borders because we had an environment conducive to winning back solid returns on investment,” LaFaive continued. “We could get there again by eliminating the personal income tax and many unnecessary regulations that throttle growth opportunities here.”
Meanwhile, Michigan is a top 10 state for not creating jobs.
AloJapan.com