Sen. John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, is planning to meet with President-elect Donald Trump, making him the first-known congressional Democrat to make the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago since Trump’s reelection.
The upcoming meeting was first reported by CBS News, which said that Trump was the one who reached out and requested to meet. The date and time for the frenemies’ rendezvous have not been finalized, according to the outlet.
In defending his meeting with the president-elect, Fetterman said that he and Trump simply planned to have a “conversation.” He conceded, though, that hot-button issues such as Trump’s insane pledge to occupy Greenland might come up.
“I think that one, he’s the president, or he will be officially,” Fetterman said. “And I think it’s pretty reasonable that if the president would like to have a conversation—or invite someone to have a conversation—to have it. And no one is my gatekeeper.”
Fetterman further defended his decision to meet with Trump in a post on X.
“I’m not just a Senator for Democrats—I’m a Senator for all Pennsylvanians. It’s my job to find common ground and deliver results for everybody,” he wrote. “And because nobody is my gatekeeper, I will meet with anyone to secure some wins, including President Trump.”
On the one hand, news of the gettogether is not all that shocking, especially considering that Fetterman has had no issues being friendly with Trump as of late.
Related story:Â What the heck is going on with John Fetterman?
The former progressive has already said that he’ll back at least two of Trump’s Cabinet picks: Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state and Rep. Elise Stefanik as U.N. ambassador. According to CBS News, Trump is also holding out hope that Fetterman will support his controversial nominee for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth.
Similarly, not only was Fetterman the first Democratic senator to join Trump’s Truth Social platform, but he was also the first Senate Democrat to co-sponsor the Laken Riley Act, which would allow the federal government to detain undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes. The bill passed the House earlier this week and is expected to clear the Senate.
After the House passed the measure, Fetterman joined Republican Sen. Katie Britt on Fox News, suggesting that he doesn’t understand why the anti-immigrant legislation was contentious.
“We have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of migrants here illegally that have been convicted of crimes,” he said. “Who wants to allow them to remain in our nation? I don’t know why anybody thinks it’s controversial that they all need to go.”
Fetterman: “We have hundreds and hundreds of thousands of migrants here illegally that have been convicted of crimes. Who wants to allow them to remain in our nation? I don’t know why anybody thinks it’s controversial that they all need to go.” pic.twitter.com/Ls1PRYSnwe— TheBlaze (@theblaze) January 8, 2025
When Fetterman first embraced the bill, fellow swing-state Democrats soon followed suit, a reflection of where voters stand on immigration-related issues. A December Civiqs poll for Daily Kos found that more than half of registered voters (53%) support Trump’s mass deportation plans.Â
Now that enough Democrats have backed the anti-immigrant bill, it will get the 60 Senate votes needed to move forward.
Fetterman hasn’t always been this friendly toward the GOP. The self-described progressive has gradually inched to the right since winning his Senate seat in 2022. He claims that the “progressive” label abandoned him, but that’s not entirely true, as he’s taken several policy positions—even during President Joe Biden’s tenure—that put him on the outs with progressives.Â
And he and Trump weren’t exactly besties until late either. In fact, Trump campaigned against Fetterman’s Senate run and previously accused him—without citing evidence—of using cocaine, meth, and other hard drugs.
“Fetterman supports taxpayer-funded drug dens and the complete decriminalization of illegal drugs, including heroin, cocaine, crystal meth, and ultra-lethal fentanyl,” Trump said during a rally for Fetterman’s opponent, Mehmet Oz, in September 2022. “By the way, he takes them himself.”
But apparently Fetterman doesn’t hold grudges. He told CBS News that he’s been “very clear” of his intention to meet with some of the awful and unqualified people who will be in charge the next four years—Trump, clearly, among them.
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