JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (AP) — President Donald Trump openly encouraged Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania to switch parties and become a Republican just weeks before the midterm elections could reshape control of Congress.
“I'd love to see him as a Republican,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Saturday as he returned to Washington from a rally in Tennessee. “He does better as a Republican than he does as a Democrat.”
The comments were among the most direct overtures by Trump to woo Fetterman into the GOP, a matter of growing importance as the party could lose its Senate majority in next month's elections. With his everyman appeal, Fetterman was a Democratic star when he was first elected to the Senate in 2022. But during his time in Washington, he has split with Democrats on issues ranging from immigration to Israel, leading to speculation that he might switch parties.
A representative for Fetterman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fetterman has repeatedly rejected the notion of becoming a Republican, writing in The Washington Post in May that he would be a “terrible Republican who still votes overwhelmingly with Democrats.” His relationship with fellow Democrats became more tenuous after he recorded a video for the Republican midterm convention last month praising his fellow Pennsylvania senator, Republican Dave McCormick, suggesting there were extremists in his party.
“I’m always going to stand with America,” Fetterman said in the video. “I’m always going to reject the extremes and socialism and that anti-American way of life.”
Such flirtations with the GOP could make it extremely difficult for Fetterman to win the Democratic nomination for another term in the Senate, a prospect Trump raised on Saturday as he encouraged the party switch.
Democrats need to pick up four seats to retake the Senate majority, a once remote prospect that remains challenging for the party. But Trump's unpopularity and the economic fallout from the Iran war have intensified headwinds for the GOP, making Democrats more bullish about a path to Senate control.
If Democrats picked up the four seats for a 51-seat majority, that could potentially put Fetterman in an influential position, reducing the incentive to switch parties.
The last senator whose party switch affected control of the chamber was Jim Jeffords of Vermont, who left the GOP in 2001 to give Democrats a narrow majority. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter's decision to abandon Republicans in 2009 helped Democrats achieve a supermajority.
Sloan reported from Cedar Rapids, Iowa
FILE - President Donald Trump passes Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., as he departs after delivering the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in the House chamber at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke,File)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he arrives on Air Force One, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he arrives on Air Force One, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
CAIRO (AP) — The latest attack on the international airport in Saudi Arabia's capital of Riyadh killed 12 people and injured over 300 others, civil aviation authorities said early Sunday, with some in critical condition. A Saudi-led coalition blamed Iran-backed Houthi rebels in neighboring Yemen.
It was the deadliest attack in any Gulf Arab country since the start of the Iran war, whose fronts have expanded to include the recent surge in fighting between the Houthis and Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces.
A missile struck a King Khalid International Airport complex housing terminals 3 and 4 for domestic flights, a regional official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to the media.
The Saudi statement said the dead included four Saudi citizens as well as two Bangladeshi nationals, a Palestinian, a U.S. citizen, an Egyptian, a Jordanian, a Syrian and a Sudanese. It said the injured were being treated at several hospitals.
Footage posted on social media following the attack and analyzed by The Associated Press shows emergency vehicles outside the airport.
The attack — the latest of several in the past week on the airport — is expected to increase Saudi pressure on allies including the United States to provide military support for the kingdom, which has seemingly tried to avoid all-out war with the Houthis.
Shortly after the attack on Saturday afternoon, U.S. President Donald Trump said he was evaluating whether the U.S. should join Saudi strikes against the rebels. “We may. We’re going to look at it,” he said. “We just found out about the recent attack. So we’ll make a decision. We move very quickly.”
Trump later Saturday said he planned to speak to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and said “what happened in Saudi Arabia is not acceptable.” Asked if the U.S. might get involved, Trump responded, “We’ll find out.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged in a social media post that an American citizen had been killed in the attack, which he condemned.
“These reprehensible attacks demonstrate a blatant disregard for innocent civilian life. They must stop now,” he said.
The Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis blamed them for the attack, calling it a “fully-fledged war crime” and vowing a firm response. The airport has no military facilities.
There was no immediate statement from the rebels, who earlier Saturday accused Saudi Arabia of striking Sanaa International Airport in the Houthi-held Yemeni capital.
The Houthis claimed attacks earlier in the week on King Khalid International Airport that killed three Saudis, including a pilot. The surge in attacks, including against other Saudi airports, military facilities and oil infrastructure, has come in the week since a Saudi-led coalition launched a major military offensive against the Houthis.
Saudi civil aviation authorities earlier Saturday said airport operations were suspended. The airport had a heavy police presence, with all entrances blocked, and lights around the complex were dimmed. Flights diverted elsewhere, the Flightradar24 tracker said. Countries including the United States, Britain, Germany, Australia and Canada warned citizens to avoid the airport.
Also Saturday, U.S. Central Command said a fighter jet struck and disabled a commercial cargo vessel with a precision munition in the Gulf of Oman, part of U.S. efforts to maintain a naval blockade of Iranian ports. The Panama-flagged M/V Ocean Molica had departed an Iranian port and did not heed repeated warnings. The ship’s crew was unharmed, CENTCOM said.
The attacks on Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, have rattled markets and the region. And yet the Saudi energy ministry hours after the latest one was still promoting a major international energy conference set to begin in Riyadh on Sunday.
Until recently, the Houthis had been largely on the sidelines of the Iran war. Now the rebels are a way for Tehran to apply pressure on a key U.S. ally.
The Saudis and the Houthis began fighting in 2015 when the kingdom entered Yemen’s civil war on behalf of the internationally recognized government. Relative calm after a 2022 ceasefire ended in July when the Houthis resumed attacks, saying the Saudis fired on the Sanaa airport as a plane from Iran was trying to land. That revived anger over the Saudi-led blockade that has largely isolated Houthi-run areas.
Now fighting has escalated, with the Saudi-led coalition providing air support for Yemeni government forces attempting to reverse recent Houthi gains along the Red Sea. Those gains gave the rebels better surveillance of shipping on a corridor that is a crucial alternative to the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran has been attacking ships.
While the Houthis have said they are only targeting Saudi shipping as part of a blockade in retaliation for the one imposed on them, concerns about wider attacks persist. The Houthis previously attacked dozens of ships after the war in Gaza began, calling it solidarity with Palestinians. A U.S. bombing campaign sharply limited that.
Saudi Arabia is running low on missile interceptors and has asked France, Britain, Pakistan and Egypt to deploy air defense support to the region, regional officials told the AP last month, with one noting that the U.S. has seen its own stock dwindle during the war with Iran.
Officials have said U.S. assistance has included intelligence sharing, target identification and planning for the latest offensive against the Houthis.
On Saturday, Saudi Arabia said its foreign minister and Omani counterpart spoke by phone about the importance of “supporting diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions” in the region. Oman, which lies across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, has played a mediator role at times in the region.
The Houthis this week warned global airlines “for the last time” about the potential consequences of operating in Saudi airspace, which they described as a theater for their military operations.
Before the latest attack, Air India, FlyDubai, Lufthansa Group and Pakistan International Airlines were among airlines suspending flights to and from Riyadh and other Saudi airports for varying periods.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency had expanded its guidance on Saudi airspace, noting the Houthis’ ability to strike targets deeper inside the kingdom, including Riyadh, and a “greater focus on aviation infrastructure.”
The missile and drone attacks and interception efforts “create an increased risk of misidentification of civil aircraft,” it said.
Two regional officials said Houthi attacks on the Riyadh airport on Thursday damaged three planes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media. The Saudi national carrier said one of its aircraft was damaged while it was on the ground, with no passengers on board.
Meanwhile, Saudi authorities warned the public this week that “filming, publishing or sharing information related to countering missiles and drones and their impact sites exposes you to legal liability.”
Anna reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Victoria Eastwood in Cairo, Collin Binkley in Washington and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report.
This image from video obtained and verified by AP shows thick black smoke and flames rising from a fire at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Friday, Oct. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
