Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) is planning to meet with President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the first Democrat in the upper chamber to publicly make the trek after the 2024 election.
Fetterman said that Trump invited him and he accepted. The meeting is expected to take place this weekend, according to two people familiar with the plans.
“I’m the Senator for all Pennsylvanians — not just Democrats in Pennsylvania,” he said in a statement, confirming news first reported by CBS. “I’ve been clear that no one is my gatekeeper. I will meet with and have a conversation with anyone if it helps me deliver for Pennsylvania and the nation.”
The two politicians’ teams had been in contact recently about setting up a meeting between the men, according to a Trump official with knowledge of the discussions.
Trump and the Democratic senator will likely discuss the president-elect’s cabinet nominees, an upcoming reconciliation package, and energy, a major issue for Pennsylvania, according to the Trump official, predicting it will be a “very robust and far-reaching conversation about policy.”
A former Fetterman campaign staffer said of the news: “This is such a ‘pick-me’ move by John. I obviously hate it but it’s also kind of hilarious and epic.”
Fetterman must walk a careful political tightrope in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which Trump won in November. Republicans also carried several down-ballot races in the state, including by ousting Fetterman’s former colleague and friend, ex-Democratic Sen. Bob Casey.
In the wake of the election, Fetterman was the first Senate Democrat to sponsor the Laken Riley Act cracking down on illegal immigration. He has also said he would vote for Trump’s United Nations ambassador pick Elise Stefanik and spoken positively about billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk.
In an interview with POLITICO Wednesday, Fetterman noted that Trump said he was open to a deal for Dreamers who entered the U.S. illegally as children. “I would be thrilled to work with him on that,” said Fetterman.
Fetterman also urged his fellow Democrats to vote for the Laken Riley Act and consider how voters in his critical swing state would see this issue.
“You can be very pro-immigration, but that doesn’t mean that you’re for all immigrants,” he said. “And I don’t understand why it’s controversial when you have hundreds of thousands of people with criminal records and active kinds of charges — I don’t know why that’s controversial that any one of them just have to go.”
Fetterman isn’t the only Democrat set to visit Mar-a-Lago this weekend. Some Democratic House members from the state and local tax caucus are also set to come meet with the president-elect to discuss upcoming SALT legislation, the Trump official said.
