JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. – President Donald Trump is urging Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman to join the Republican Party, making the pitch just weeks before the midterm elections that could determine control of Congress.
“I’d love to see him as a Republican,” Trump told reporters Saturday after returning to Washington from a rally in Tennessee. “He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat.”
Trump’s remarks represented one of his clearest attempts yet to recruit Fetterman to the GOP, an effort that comes as Republicans face the possibility of losing their Senate majority in next month’s elections. Fetterman, known for his working-class image, emerged as a Democratic star after winning his Senate seat in 2022. Since arriving in Washington, however, he has broken with his party on issues including immigration and Israel, fueling ongoing speculation about a possible party switch.
A representative for Fetterman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fetterman has consistently dismissed the idea of becoming a Republican. In a May opinion article for The Washington Post, he wrote that he would be a “terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.” His standing among fellow Democrats grew more strained last month when he appeared in a video for the Republican midterm convention, praising Pennsylvania’s Republican Sen. Dave McCormick while warning about extremists within his own party.
“I’m always going to stand with America,” Fetterman said in the video. “I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.”
Those increasingly independent positions could complicate Fetterman’s chances of securing the Democratic nomination for another Senate term—an issue Trump highlighted Saturday while calling on him to change parties.
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Democrats must gain four seats to reclaim the Senate majority, a path once considered highly unlikely but still difficult. Yet Trump’s low approval ratings and the economic consequences of the war with Iran have created additional challenges for Republicans, prompting Democrats to express greater confidence about their prospects for Senate control.
A four-seat Democratic gain would produce a 51-seat majority and could give Fetterman greater influence in the chamber, potentially weakening any incentive for him to become a Republican.
The most recent senator to change parties and directly alter control of the Senate was Vermont’s Jim Jeffords, who left the Republican Party in 2001 and handed Democrats a narrow majority. In 2009, former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter also left the GOP, helping Democrats reach a supermajority.
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Sloan reported from Cedar Rapids, Iowa
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