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In an appearance on Dan Bongino’s podcast on Monday, President Donald Trump called for Republicans in Congress to “nationalize” elections across the United States.
The comments from Trump, accompanied by his false claims of election fraud, are the latest indicator of the president’s desire to interfere with future races, including the upcoming 2026 midterms.
“We have states that I won that show I didn’t win,” Trump falsely claimed, without specifying which election he was referring to. He added that he believes he “won in a landslide” in states that showed he lost.
“I won in a landslide… I won everything. I won a thing called counties,” Trump added, without providing evidence.
In what could be interpreted as marching orders for members of his party, Trump explained that GOP lawmakers should take control of what are typically state-managed election systems.
Trump cited his false claims of fraud to justify the demand, saying:
The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over — we should take over the voting in at least, many, 15 places.’ … The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that are so crooked, and they’re counting votes.
According to Article I of the U.S. Constitution, the “times, places and manner of holding elections” for federal elections “shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.” Congress is allowed to implement its own regulations through federal law, but it’s generally understood that states were intended to run their own systems independently of the federal government.
Trump’s comments come less than a week after his Department of Justice (DOJ) raided municipal offices in Fulton County, Georgia, to obtain personal election records from thousands of voters in the 2020 presidential race. Many observers are concerned that such data could be used as a means to subvert future electoral contests.
Trump infamously pressured state election officials to overturn the outcome of the 2020 race in Georgia, demanding they “find” him 11,780 votes — the exact number needed to flip the state in his favor, despite Biden’s legitimate win.
Trump’s comments on Bongino’s program — who, up until last month, had been deputy director of the FBI — also come as polling data and electoral contests show Republicans may be in deep trouble come November.
Multiple polls show that registered voters are now more likely to back Democrats in the midterms than they are Republicans. A Fox News poll, for example, shows Democrats with a 6-point advantage, while an Economist/YouGov poll from last week showed Democrats with a 5-point advantage among voters.
A special election in Texas has also piqued the interest of both parties. Although it’s only for a state Senate seat, the 14-point win by union leader Taylor Rehmet (D) over Republican activist Leigh Wambsganss is noteworthy given that Trump won the district in 2024 by 17 points.
Trump downplayed the loss as insignificant, telling reporters, “I’m not involved with that,” and saying he was unsure “whether or not it’s transferable” to elections that will be held later this year.
In a Truth Social post last week, however, Trump gave his strong endorsement to Wambganss and encouraged his base of supporters in the district to vote for her.
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