Fetterman will be the first known Democratic lawmaker from the upper chamber to meet with the incoming president since his 2024 election win over Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I agreed to meet with the president. I mean, it’s reasonable — I’m the senator of Pennsylvania, not just for Democrats, it’s for every Pennsylvanian, and that’s going to be the president,” Fetterman said, speaking with reporters on Thursday. “It’s just about having a conversation.”
The Pennsylvania senator said the date of the meeting has yet to be finalized. The incoming president won Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes in November after losing the state to President Joe Biden in 2020. Fetterman won his seat in 2022 in a tight race in the battleground state.
Fetterman has appeared to be open to some proposals floated by Trump. When the president-elect proposed the idea that the United States should control Greenland, the Pennsylvania senator compared the discussion to the Louisiana Purchase.
“I’m angling to be named the pope of Greenland,” Fetterman quipped when asked by reporters about his goals for the meeting with Trump.
Fetterman has openly criticized the left flank of his party even before the 2024 election. The Pennsylvania senator sidestepped a question from the Washington Examiner, asking if other Senate Democrats should be willing to meet with the incoming president.
“I don’t tell anyone what they should do,” he said.
The senator is one of two Senate Democrats who co-sponsored the Laken Riley Act, an immigration bill that senators voted to advance on Thursday afternoon. Fetterman has signaled he’s willing to support some of Trump’s Cabinet choices and says there are plenty of topics in which he and the incoming commander in chief can find common ground.
“Well, the border, Israel, China is a significant issue. I think there’s going to be more and more — I’d like to find more where we can work together,” Fetterman said. “And obviously we’re going to disagree on some issues, but that’s the way things work.”
Trump met with Muriel Bowser, the Democratic mayor of Washington, D.C., last month to talk about his second term and the inauguration, according to a statement from her office.
Fetterman has said he intends to support Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) nomination to become secretary of state and has signaled an openness to support others.
“I decided to vote for him the day it was announced. He is a solid choice — 100%,” Fetterman said.
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Republicans are hopeful that Fetterman could be willing to support some of Trump’s more controversial nominees. The Pennsylvania Democrat met with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. this week and called it a “good conversation.”
“I think I’ve met everybody except Dr. Oz. But, I’m familiar with Dr. Oz. I’ve heard of him before,” Fetterman said, making a joke about Dr. Mehmet Oz, the incoming Trump administration’s nominee to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and his former onetime rival in the 2022 Senate race.
Ramsey Touchberry contributed to this report.
