Donald Trump has refused to rule out declaring a national security emergency over the 2026 elections, in his latest sinister threat to interfere with November’s midterms.
Amid growing GOP fears that Democrats could regain control of Congress, paving the way for the president to be investigated and potentially impeached, Trump has hinted that he could invoke extraordinary powers to meddle in the process.
The threat came during a post-midnight interview on right-wing network Real America’s Voice, when host and conspiracy theorist Wayne Allyn Root told Trump he had the “right” to declare a national security emergency if the Senate can’t pass his signature election bill, the SAVE Act.
The Act, which remains stalled in the Senate, would impose new identification restrictions on voting and curb mail-in ballots, but critics view it as another attempt at voter suppression.
“If they never get the SAVE America Act done, you have the right to declare a national security emergency for elections,” Root told Trump, citing a 1983 Supreme Court ruling that he claimed would make it hard for such a move to be overturned without a two-thirds vote in Congress.
“If you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship, and a limit to mail-in ballots.”
Trump, who still believes the 2020 election was rigged, replied ominously.
“Let me just say, stranger things have happened,” the 80-year-old said. “I’ll leave it at that.”
The U.S. Constitution makes clear that states administer elections and any attempt to expand federal control would certainly be challenged in the courts.
But the exchange, which is not the first time Trump and his allies have mused about invoking an emergency declaration over the polls, nonetheless revived concerns about how far he might be prepared to go to reshape the election.
GOP strategists have told the Daily Beast that fears of a Democratic “blue wave” have been particularly potent in recent months as Trump’s declining popularity over issues such as the war and affordability become a drag on candidates heading into November’s midterms.
Trump himself acknowledged last week that voters were “angry at Republicans,” but insisted, despite polls showing otherwise, “they’re not angry at me.”
“The question is, will they vote because a lot of them are very angry at Republicans,” he told PunchBowl News, acknowledging the impact this could have on turnout.
To hold on to power—both this year and at the next presidential election in 2028—Trump has previously made a series of other wild threats, such as canceling midterms altogether or running for an unconstitutional third term.
At one point, he even questioned whether he should stay on for a fourth term, even though the U.S. Constitution bans Americans from being elected as president more than twice.
In February, a 17-page draft proposal circulated among Trump allies also contemplated invoking a national emergency over alleged foreign interference in American elections and using it to give the federal government sweeping powers over voting.
The document envisioned measures such as voter identification requirements and hand-counting of ballots. Trump at the time said he was not considering the proposal, but in his latest interview he goes much further, not ruling it out as he continues to obsess about the SAVE Act.
Among other things, the Act would require Americans to prove their citizenship upon registering and to show photo ID to vote in federal elections. But it remains stalled in the U.S. Senate, where it lacks the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster.
