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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer spent more than $1 million on international travel in 2025 — an average of $2,739 every day for the year, according to a document Michigan Capitol Confidential obtained through a records request.
CapCon filed dozens of records requests as it sought to track travel paid for by a slush fund that is split between the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Economic Development Fund.
CapCon is one of a few news organizations that still practices investigative journalism and pays for record requests, which often take months or even years to obtain.
During a House Oversight hearing in October, Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, questioned economic development officials. He wanted to know how Whitmer’s travel group spent $25,000 on meals while in Japan — a spending spree that only CapCon reported.
Officials from the economic development agency couldn’t answer questions about the spending.
CapCon chronicled Whitmer’s travel expenses, which included:
United Arab Emirates: $175,000 in February 2025
United Kingdom: $204,000 in April 2025
Australia: $219,622 in June 2025
Germany, Japan, Singapore: $470,000 in September 2025
Canada: $73,000 in October 2025.
When the witnesses at the hearing couldn’t remember the spending, Carra cited a CapCon story that detailed the $216,000 of expenses in Japan.
“I do not have the document you’re looking at in front of me, but I’m happy to look into that,” the witness said.
Carra replied: “Was this a six-month trip? Or how did we get to $25,000 again?”
The governor brought 26 others on the trip, CapCon reported.
The governor and her group spent $85,000 on airfare; $70,000 on ground transportation, including trains; $30,000 on language guides and interpreters; $25,000 on meals; and $6,000 on a University of Michigan alumni event.
While the governor and friends travel worldwide, Michigan’s manufacturers have shed thousands of jobs. More than 8,600 manufacturing jobs were lost in September 2025, according to state data.
Requests for records about the governor’s world travels were only some of the more than 260 records requests CapCon filed in 2025.
