President Trump just dropped a major political bomb, suggesting that Republicans need to “take over” the voting process in more than a dozen states before the upcoming November midterms, as reported by The Hill. The president told Dan Bongino in an interview that Republicans “ought to nationalize the voting” in at least 15 different places. That’s a pretty staggering demand, and you can bet it’s going to raise some eyebrows, especially among those already worried about federal overreach into state electoral systems.
The president made these comments while repeating his long-standing, controversial claims that he actually won the 2020 election in these states. He insisted that “we have states that I won that show I didn’t win.” President Trump told Bongino, “The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over — we should take over the voting — the voting in at least many, 15 places.’”
Interestingly, the White House immediately jumped in to clarify the administration’s position on election integrity. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson emphasized that President Trump “cares deeply about the safety and security of our elections.” She pointed to legislative proposals the administration supports, like the SAVE Act, as proof of this commitment.
This rhetoric is clearly the engine driving Trump’s desire for federal involvement in the state electoral system
Jackson explained that the administration is pushing for reforms that would establish a uniform standard for photo identification at the polls, end no-excuse mail-in voting, and prohibit the practice of ballot harvesting. Furthermore, these proposals would require proof of citizenship just to register to vote. It sounds like the administration is trying to frame this as an effort to standardize rules nationwide.
This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has tried to centralize control over voting data. The administration has previously sought to nationalize certain aspects of the system by requesting states hand over their complete voter rolls to the Justice Department. This isn’t just basic data either; we’re talking about sensitive personal information, including individuals’ Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers.
The Justice Department has actually sued about two dozen states that refused to comply with the data request. The administration says this whole effort is about ensuring states are maintaining their voter rolls correctly, but most states clearly weren’t comfortable turning over that sensitive data. While a few states have complied, the majority have held fast and refused to give the administration the associated personal information.
Naturally, this latest demand to “nationalize” voting is really unnerving Democrats. They’ve been worried for a while that President Trump might try to interfere in the upcoming elections. Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, suggested the president is actively trying to meddle in the November midterms.
Murphy also brought up a specific incident involving Attorney General Pam Bondi and Minnesota. He expressed alarm regarding a letter Bondi sent requesting voter rolls from the state. Murphy claimed Bondi’s letter contained a disturbing exchange. He stated, “And it is really alarming that, in this letter, Bondi says, ‘Well, we will get the ICE officers out of Minneapolis if you give us control of your voter lists,’” suggesting a direct link between providing the rolls and the removal of federal immigration officers.
That kind of pressure tactic is certainly going to fuel the fire when the president starts talking about “taking over” state voting systems.
Published: Feb 3, 2026 08:30 am