Donald Trump appeared on conservative commentator Dan Bongino’s podcast this week. There, the president suggested that Republican officials should “take over” and even “nationalize” elections in at least 15 states.
This step, he claims, would stop undocumented immigrants from voting. The remarks revived fears that Trump is laying the groundwork for the 2026 midterms.
At the heart of Trump’s argument is his belief that immigrants were “brought” into the US to vote illegally, which has been debunked. Noncitizens are barred from voting in federal and state elections, and experts say cases of noncitizen voting are rare.
But on Tuesday, February 4, 2026, Trump was in the Oval Office to sign a $1.2 trillion spending bill to end a partial government shutdown. That’s when he told reporters that if states “can’t run an election,” then “somebody should take it over.”
He also suggested that states act as “agents of the federal government” during elections, and questioned why Washington doesn’t just run them.
Trump calls on Republicans to “take over the voting” in 15 states, presumably those run by Democrats, an escalation in his effort to assert control over American elections. @reidepstein @NYTnickc https://t.co/akwsCrOgIw
— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) February 3, 2026
Meanwhile, the Constitution gives states the authority to administer elections, subject to congressional rules. Plus, even members of Trump’s own party, aka other Republican leaders, rushed to reinterpret the idea.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said election integrity is a “top priority” but rejected a federal takeover, saying, “No, no, no.” On the other hand, Senate Majority Leader John Thune pointed to the GOP-backed SAVE Act, which requires proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, and insisted that was what Trump actually may have “meant.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also said the president supports states’ constitutional authority and was only advocating voter ID requirements.
Yet when reminded that the Constitution puts elections in state hands, Trump replied: “They can administer the election, but they have to do it honestly.”
Democrats like Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump’s language is like a dictator’s. Senator Mark Warner of Virginia warned that the remarks were a hint of what might be coming. “This is forward-looking — to 2026, to 2028,” Warner said.
“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’ We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” — Donald J. Trump
Are you ready now to take the warnings both literally and seriously?… pic.twitter.com/lYeX99gv0r
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) February 3, 2026
Just a few days ago, FBI agents executed a search warrant in Fulton County, Georgia, seizing nearly 700 boxes of ballots and election materials. The county has long been a target of the 79-year-old president’s false fraud claims.
The Guardian also reported that the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, is reviewing the 2020 election with Trump’s approval, separate from a Justice Department investigation. She was also at the Fulton County raid last week.
