President Trump said the Republican Party is now almost entirely defined by the MAGA movement, told Democrats they should abandon their party name, and said Sen. John Fetterman would fare better as a Republican than as a Democrat.
The comments came in a series of exchanges with reporters on Saturday, distributed by RapidResponse47.
Trump: 'Almost All of the Republican Party Is MAGA'
Asked about the composition of the Republican coalition, the president was direct.
"CNN did a poll that said that I was 99% of the Republican Party, so I think it's right, Cuba, by the way," Trump said. "And I think almost all of the Republican Party is MAGA."
The president's answer followed a question about the direction of the party, and he did not qualify the statement.
President Says Democrats Should Drop Their Party Name
Turning to the opposition, Trump argued that the Democratic Party no longer represents what its name suggests.
"I think that the Democrats have become the Socialists of America, and I think that they ought to get rid of the name Democrat because it's no longer accurate," he said.
"But you have a combination of Socialists and Communists, and I think frankly the word Democrat is a, or Democrat is like all of them, but I think it's a very inaccurate name Democrat is a, they're really Socialists, they become Socialists, and they're being dragged much further left than Socialists."
The president made the remark in response to a question about the Democratic Party's identity.
On Fetterman: 'I'd Love to Have Him as a Republican'
Trump also weighed in on Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who has occasionally broken with his party.
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 went on to praise the senator personally.
"John Federman is a great guy with magnificent parents," he said. "I got to speak to his parents about something and they were great. The mother of the father, Asia. He's a very solid person. You know, he's a person. He's smart and all that, but he's got great common sense. But if you look at the falls, he does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat."
The president's comments on Fetterman were unprompted by any specific news event, and he did not say whether the senator had any plans to switch parties.
