President Trump said he would love to see Sen. John Fetterman join the Republicans, citing polls that show the Pennsylvania Democrat fares better with GOP voters.
Speaking to reporters Saturday at Joint Base Andrews while returning from a rally in Tennessee, Newsweek reported that Trump openly recruited the Democratic senator.
The pitch lands as Fetterman watches his standing collapse inside his own party, posts strong numbers with Pennsylvania Republicans, and faces a Senate map where Democrats still need four seats to reclaim the majority ahead of next month’s midterms.
Trump did not hedge.
"I'd love to see him as a Republican."
He added that the numbers already point the same way.
"If you look at the polls, he does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat."
Fox News reported Trump went further, calling Fetterman a great guy with magnificent parents and great common sense, and warning that a 2028 Democratic primary would be an uphill climb.
I'd love to see it. I think he's great. It's going to be hard for him to get the nomination as a Democrat, but I'd love to have him as a Republican.
Trump also described Fetterman as a "very solid person" who "has great common sense."
An August Inquirer/New York Times/Siena University poll found 73 percent of registered Pennsylvania Republicans viewed Fetterman favorably. Only 63 percent gave the same mark to fellow Pennsylvania Sen. Dave McCormick, a Republican.
Democratic voters told a different story. Just 22 percent viewed Fetterman favorably, down from 74 percent in 2024. Sixty-three percent viewed him unfavorably.
A February 2026 Quinnipiac University poll tracked the same split on job approval: 73 percent of Pennsylvania Republicans approved, 22 percent of Democrats approved, and 48 percent of independents approved. Those numbers match the pattern already visible in earlier Quinnipiac findings on Pennsylvania Democrats rejecting Fetterman.
Trump’s invitation sits against that backdrop. Fetterman has broken with Democrats on immigration and support for Israel. He has also drawn fire inside his party for appearances that cross the aisle.
Fetterman has repeatedly said he will not leave the Democratic Party. In a May piece for The Washington Post he described himself as a "terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats."
Just The News reported a sharper rejection after Trump’s latest push.
"I'm not going to be a Republican. Why can't you guys just wait till the midterms? And if I turn a Republican, then I'll be a liar."
He remains a Democrat. He has not formally announced a 2028 re-election campaign. Trump still argued that winning a Democratic primary that year will be hard.
Last month Fetterman recorded a video for a Republican midterm convention praising McCormick. In that clip he said he would "always going to stand with America" and "always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life." The appearance is the same pattern covered when Fetterman crossed party lines to praise McCormick in Dallas.
Fox News noted that Fetterman has voted with Senate Democrats nearly 90 percent of the time since 2023, though the rate has fallen under 81 percent in the current session. He has also broken with the party on Iran and immigration and once mistakenly called himself a lifelong Republican.
Party switches have moved the Senate before. In 2001, Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords left the Republicans and caucused with Democrats, helping hand them a narrow majority. In 2009, Pennsylvania’s own Arlen Specter left the GOP and joined the Democrats, strengthening their hand in Barack Obama’s first year.
Democrats now need four seats to take the chamber back. Fetterman’s growing distance from his party’s base has already produced open frustration and talk of a 2028 primary challenge, the same pressure tracked as Pennsylvania Democrats shun Fetterman over collapsing approval.
Republican leaders have signaled they would take him. That openness has run alongside wider Democratic fractures, including the dynamic laid out when John Thune said Republicans would welcome Fetterman.
Newsweek reached out to Fetterman’s office for comment on Trump’s latest remarks. No response appears in the reporting.
Fetterman still calls himself a Democrat. The polls, the primary risk, and the president’s public offer all point the other direction.
Voters notice when a senator’s own party turns cold while the other side keeps the welcome mat out.
