Hall: ‘Be Prepared For Anything’ When Meeting With Trump

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/15/2025) When asked if House Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Twp.) knew last week's Oval Office meeting was a press conference, Hall said he’s known President Donald Trump for a long time, and he knows he has to be prepared for anything going into moments like that.

“I’m used to it. You could all tell I was very comfortable and used to it when I was there,” Hall said. 

Michigan Capitol Building

While he didn’t say whether he knew the meeting would have press in attendance, he did say he didn’t think Trump tricked Gov. Gretchen Whitmer into attending a press conference. Hall said he was invited to participate in the meeting.

Hall said if he “had to guess” that the Oval Office was likely running a tight schedule and didn’t want to cancel the meeting, so they merged what Trump needed to get done into one event.

On the infamous New York Times photo of Whitmer covering her face because she didn’t want to be photographed, Hall said he’s encouraged by the way Whitmer has embraced Trump and said it’s smart to keep embracing him since “President Trump is very popular in Michigan, and he cares very much about our state.”

Hall said he thinks when the federal government sees Michigan House Republicans and Whitmer unifying around issues, it gives them confidence that issues like the Selfridge Air Base and Asian carp should be priorities.

The Speaker also took another back-handed swipe at the Senate not holding an active session since March 19, saying at one point, “There’s only one chamber that is not engaging and that’s the Senate.” 

Before today, the House hadn't had a quorum since March 20. The Senate has had 20 session days in 2025 in which a quorum was present. The House has had 24.

Hall Not A Fan Of Benson's Revamped Website

Speaker Matt Hall (R-Richland Township) called the Department of State (DOS)’s new campaign finance and disclosure websites a mess Tuesday during a press conference.

“I would tell her, ‘Stop campaigning Jocelyn Benson, and go fix your website,’” Hall said of Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s recently revamped services.

Hall said it’s hard to find information about campaign contributions, and said it’s dysfunctional for the public to use and for legislators to file their campaign finance reports. 

He said if Benson was doing her job, the House Oversight Committee wouldn’t need to issue subpoenas as it did this morning. He added that the committee’s Chair Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay) has his 100 percent, full backing when he decided to issue subpoenas. 

“The days of these departments and the Secretary of State’s office just doing whatever the hell they want with nobody watching them is over. Legislative oversight is back,” Hall said. 

Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said “MAGA Matt Hall's pet Oversight Committee” is giving itself even broader subpoena power with today's move in following President Donald Trump's tactics of abusing power for political witch hunts.

“This is a gross overstep by the House Oversight Committee, plain and simple," Hertel said. "If Hall really cared about transparency, he would’ve sent FOIA reform to Governor Whitmer for signature, but we all know that this is really about political persecution, not good government.”