Governor Whitmer of Michigan is dismayed President Trump is considering pardons for men convicted in a plot to kidnap and kill her — especially after she says the president promised her in a private conversation weeks ago that he wouldn’t do it. 

“I’m not sure how to process it,” Ms. Whitmer said in a Thursday interview with Michigan Public Radio. 

She said Mr. Trump had recently told her he would not consider pardons and she disclosed the details of her conversation with Mr. Trump on the case. 

“I talked to the president about a month ago, and he asked me how I’d feel about this [pardons], and I said I think it would be the wrong decision, I would oppose it,” Ms. Whitmer told the radio station.

“And he said, ‘Okay, I’ll drop it.’ Now we see this revelation,” Ms. Whitmer said. “I hope he doesn’t go through with it.”

On Wednesday, after announcing a series of other pardons, Mr. Trump was asked if he was considering pardons for two men serving lengthy prison sentences for their roles in the Whitmer kidnapping plot. 

“I did watch the trial. It looked, to me, somewhat of a railroad job, I’ll be honest with you,” Mr. Trump said before adding that they had been drinking and “said some stupid things.”

The two men convicted in the case, Adam Fox and Barry Croft, are considered the ringleaders of the plan to take the Democratic governor hostage and hold a trial of sorts for her at an undisclosed location. At the two men’s actual trial, several witnesses testified that ultimately the goal was to execute the governor for her pandemic lockdown measures.

Some critics of the prosecution, including the president’s pardon attorney, Ed Martin, say the two deserve to be released because several other plotters were FBI informants.

Ms. Whitmer is term-limited from running for governor again and has been touting her ability to work with the Trump administration to get things done.  

“I don’t care much about headlines,” she said. “What I care about is making headway.”

Considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate, Ms. Whitmer has been criticized by some Democrats for appearing with Mr. Trump, even sharing a public hug with him. 

The relationship has brought wins for Michigan, including an announcement about expanding the mission of a Michigan Air National Guard base that was feared to be closing. Ms. Whitmer has also defended the president’s use of tariffs and said she understood his “motivation behind the tariffs.”