Trump Encourages Republicans to Push for Nationalized Elections
President Donald Trump has called on Republicans to push for federal control over elections, as his administration moves to overhaul election rules ahead of this year’s critical midterm elections.
Speaking in an interview aired Monday on a podcast hosted by Dan Bongino, a former deputy director of the FBI, Trump argued that Republicans should take direct control of voting systems in multiple states.
“The Republicans should say, we want to take over the voting… The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,” Trump said, suggesting federal oversight in at least 15 locations.
Trump’s remarks came less than a week after the FBI searched an elections office in Fulton County, Georgia, a county that has remained central to Trump’s unsubstantiated claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent. According to CNN, the search was part of a Justice Department effort to seize election records and investigate alleged voter fraud.
Trump repeated claims that certain states manipulate vote counts, stating that he won states that later declared otherwise. He also claimed that ballots obtained through a court order in Georgia would soon reveal “interesting things.”
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard confirmed that Trump personally directed her to travel to Atlanta in connection with the search. Sources familiar with the matter said Gabbard later put Trump on the phone with FBI agents involved, describing the exchange as a brief “pep talk.”
In the United States, elections are administered by state and local governments, with only limited federal involvement. Despite this, Trump has repeatedly sought to change how elections are conducted nationwide.
Last year, he signed an executive order aimed at requiring proof of U.S. citizenship for voter registration and preventing states from counting mail-in ballots received after Election Day. Parts of the order were later blocked by federal courts. Under existing law, non-citizens are already prohibited from voting in federal elections.
Trump has also pledged to overhaul voting methods he falsely claims contribute to election fraud. In August, he said he would lead a movement to eliminate mail-in voting and ban voting machines, though no such executive order was ultimately signed.
The former president has additionally launched a rare mid-decade redistricting effort aimed at helping Republicans gain more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives during the upcoming midterms.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has filed lawsuits against nearly two dozen states, seeking full voter rolls that include sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers and home addresses, despite a lack of independent evidence supporting claims of widespread voter fraud.
In response, Democratic election officials have begun preparing for potential federal intervention. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told CNN that officials are discussing measures to protect voters from federal law enforcement at polling places and to manage federal requests for voter data.
“This is now a legitimate planning category,” Simon said. “It’s extraordinarily sad, but ignoring the possibility would be irresponsible.”
Democratic secretaries of state said they are cautious about revealing details of their preparations, citing concerns about alarming voters or providing guidance to bad actors. However, they acknowledged that their planning continues to evolve in response to what they describe as unprecedented challenges posed by the administration.
