President Donald Trump said Saturday he would "love" to see Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania become a Republican, renewing speculation about the senator's future after months of high-profile breaks with his party. "I'd love to see him as a Republican," Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews as he returned from a rally in Tennessee. "If you look at the polls, he does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat." Trump added that Fetterman is a "very solid person" and "has great common sense." The president also said that Fetterman has "magnificent parents," and that he "got to speak to his parents about something." The comments were among Trump's clearest public efforts yet to encourage Fetterman to join the GOP at a time when control of the Senate remains in play ahead of next month's midterm elections.
Newsweek has reached out to Fetterman's office for comment. Despite growing speculation, Fetterman has consistently said he does not intend to become a Republican. Writing in The Washington Post in May, Fetterman described himself as a "terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats." Still, the Pennsylvania senator has frequently frustrated fellow Democrats by breaking with the party on several issues, including immigration and support for Israel.
Concerns among Democrats intensified last month when Fetterman recorded a video for a Republican midterm convention praising fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican. In the video, Fetterman criticized what he described as political extremism.
"I'm always going to stand with America," Fetterman said. "I'm always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life." Trump's latest comments come as Democrats try to regain control of the Senate. Democrats need to gain four seats to reclaim the majority, though the electoral map remains challenging.
The president also suggested Fetterman could face difficulties winning another Democratic Senate nomination if his clashes with the party continue. In his remarks at Joint Base Andrews, Trump said "it's going to be hard" for Fetterman to win the 2028 Democratic primary as a Democrat. While a party switch has generated significant media attention, polling has painted a more complicated picture of Fetterman's political standing.
An Inquirer/New York Times/Siena College poll published in August found Fetterman had become more popular among Pennsylvania Republicans than fellow Republican Senator Dave McCormick. The survey found 73 percent of registered Republican voters viewed Fetterman favorably, compared with 63 percent who viewed McCormick favorably. At the same time, support for Fetterman among Democrats had fallen sharply.
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