JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. — President Donald J. Trump wrapped a long Saturday of winning on the road the way he always does: with straight answers. Air Force One touched down at Joint Base Andrews at 7:55 p.m. Eastern after the packed Clarksville, Tennessee, rally, and the President stopped beside Air Force One and took roughly eight minutes of questions. The headline came when he was asked whether Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. John Fetterman could cross over to the Republican Party. “I’d love to see him. I think he’s great,” the President said. “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.”
The President was warm and specific. “John Fetterman’s a great guy with magnificent parents,” he said. “I got to speak to his parents about something, and they were great. The mother, the father.” He called the senator “a very solid person,” adding: “He’s smart and all that, but he’s got great common sense.” And he pointed to the numbers: “If you look at the polls, he does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat.” Fetterman has broken with his own party on immigration and Israel, and last month he recorded a video for the Republican midterm convention praising his fellow Pennsylvania senator, Republican Dave McCormick. “I’m always going to stand with America,” Fetterman said in that video. “I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.” That is common sense, and the President noticed.
The President also made clear that the party Fetterman would be joining is united like never before. Citing the CNN segment he played on the big screen in Clarksville, he said: “CNN did a poll that said that I was 99% of the Republican Party. So I think it’s right too, by the way. And I think almost all of the Republican Party is MAGA.” As for the other side, he said the Democrats “have become the socialists of America” and “ought to get rid of the name Democrat because it’s no longer accurate,” warning that they are “being dragged much further left than socialism.”
On the rest of the agenda, the President stayed on offense. He said he formed a committee to investigate the allegations against Lisa Cook “because I think she’s dishonest, and she shouldn’t be in an important position. And she’s an automatic no vote, and that’s not a good thing,” and said he would fire her if the committee finds cause. On Iran, he said America has the upper hand: “We can leave right now, but we have to guarantee that they can’t have it in the future,” meaning a nuclear weapon. On Russia, he said, “President Putin would like to see a settlement strongly.” He called the deadly attack on Riyadh’s airport “a terrible thing,” said the U.S. “has communication with the Houthis,” and said he planned to speak with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Asked about the midterm map, the President said he is honoring the states that stood with him while fighting for every close race. “I want to give some recognition to places that have just backed me automatically, like Tennessee, and I’ll be going to Ohio, which backed me, but we have very close races,” he said. “I think I’m more popular with them now than I was.” Air Force One flew over fireworks as it landed. Patriots, the message is simple: show up November 3 and keep the Golden Age rolling. Watch the Official White House video.
