A storm has broken out in the US following a statement by President Donald Trump, who called on Republicans to "nationalize the elections." In an interview broadcast on the night of February 2, 2026, Trump stated that his administration is pushing for changes to election rules ahead of the critical midterm elections later this year. "The Republicans should say: We want to take control, we have to take control of the voting in at least 15 areas. The Republicans should nationalize the elections," Trump told Dan Bongino, a former FBI official, during a podcast appearance.
FBI maneuvers
The US President's comments come less than a week after the FBI raided an election office in Fulton County, Georgia—a long-standing focal point of Trump's unsubstantiated claims that his 2020 loss to Joe Biden was due to voter fraud. The investigation relates to an effort by the Department of Justice to seize election records and investigate potential voter fraud in the county, according to previous reports by CNN. "We have states that are so corrupt and they count votes. We have states that I won and they show that I didn't win," Trump said. "Now you will see something in Georgia, where they managed to get the ballots by court order; you will see some interesting things coming out."
The case of Atlanta
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard stated that Trump personally ordered her to travel to Atlanta for the controversial investigation. In a sign of the President's personal involvement and interest in the case, Gabbard had Trump speak by phone with some of the FBI agents involved in the investigation, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. One source reported that the call was brief and included a "pep talk." In the US, elections are primarily conducted by state and local officials, with the federal government playing a limited role. However, this has not stopped Trump from attempting to reshape how elections are held.
Controversial decrees
Last year, he signed an executive order requiring voters to prove their citizenship during registration and prohibiting states from counting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day. Although the measure has been partially blocked in federal court, non-citizens are already prohibited from voting in federal elections. On several occasions, Trump has promised to change the country's voting methods, focusing on practices he falsely claims lead to voter fraud. In August, he stated he would "lead a movement" to end mail-in ballots and pledged to sign a decree banning them, along with voting machines. Ultimately, he did not sign that decree.
Redistricting
The President has also launched a rare mid-term redistricting campaign, aimed at helping Republicans win additional congressional seats in the November midterms. The Department of Justice, which has amplified claims that undocumented immigrants have infiltrated elections without providing independent evidence, has sued two dozen states for full voter rolls, including personal data such as Social Security numbers and home addresses.
Democrats on alert
Some Democratic election officials have begun preparing for potential federal intervention in the midterm elections. Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told CNN that he and his colleagues have examined measures to protect voters from interactions with federal authorities at polling stations and to manage administration pressure regarding access to the personal data of millions of voters. "This is now a legitimate planning category. It is extremely sad, but it would be irresponsible to ignore the possibility," Simon said during the annual winter meeting of the National Association of Secretaries of State. Democratic secretaries of state said they were hesitant to provide details of their preparations, fearing they would alarm voters or provide "blueprints" to bad actors. However, they emphasized that their preparations are evolving based on the new risks posed by the administration.
What history shows
Every time Donald Trump appears to be laying the groundwork for intervention in an electoral process, recent—and still fresh—history indicates that his warnings should not be ignored. Recently, Trump again showed his obsession with the midterms, just two days after an unexpected Democratic victory in a traditionally Republican Senate district in Texas—a result that intensifies Republican fears ahead of November. Substantively, Trump's words have no constitutional basis. The US Constitution explicitly assigns the conduct of elections to the states, a principle repeatedly confirmed by courts—even in cases Trump himself initiated.
Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution is clear:
"The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators."
The role of the president is entirely absent—and this is no accident.
Experts issue warnings
David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, notes that Trump is displaying "a stunning lack of understanding of the constitutional safeguards that the country's founders wisely established." As he emphasizes, the framers of the Constitution feared exactly a rogue executive leader who would attempt to seize power through control of the electoral process. Even sharper was John Jones, a former federal judge from Pennsylvania, who characterized Trump’s proposal as "flagrantly unconstitutional." "I'll say it straight: the President of the United States needs to read the Constitution. What he is proposing is not legal," he told CNN.
Climate of suspicion
Trump's statements are part of a broader strategy to create a climate of suspicion around the November elections in case Republicans suffer a defeat—a tactic familiar from 2020, when he laid the groundwork for "stolen election" claims months before the polls opened against Joe Biden. Today, however, the situation seems more alarming. The Trump administration has begun building a mechanism that challenges or attempts to shape the legitimacy of elections in advance, based on absolute political loyalty to the president. Unlike almost all modern presidents, who avoided undermining public trust in the democratic process, Trump is systematically moving in the opposite direction. His baseless claims of fraud in 2020—rejected by courts and Republican officials—ultimately led to the invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
When election 'jokes' stop being funny
Often, Trump's associates attribute his statements about elections to "humor" or exaggeration. Last month, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt argued that Trump was "joking" when he said "we shouldn't even have elections." However, after 2020 and the administration's new moves, such statements can hardly be taken as innocent. In recent weeks:
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FBI agents seized 700 boxes of election material in Fulton County, Georgia.
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National Intelligence Chief Tulsi Gabbard was on-site and connected Trump by phone with agents.
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Trump stated that he "should have" seized voting machines in 2020.
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He signed an executive order attempting to impose voting restrictions, much of which was blocked by courts.
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The DOJ requested voter rolls from two dozen states containing sensitive personal data. All of this reinforces the concern that federal power is attempting to infiltrate a process that institutionally belongs to the states.
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