President Donald Trump asked Republican lawmakers to take control of the voting process across the country. He wants the federal government to take over a power that the U.S. Constitution clearly gives to individual states. This is a huge claim that goes against how elections have always worked in America.
According to The Washington Post, Trump spoke to right-wing host Dan Bongino and told Republicans to “take over” the elections and control the entire process. He said, “We should take over the voting, the voting, in at least 15 places.” He continued to push the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him through widespread fraud.
The Constitution clearly states that the “Times, Places and Manner” of holding elections is decided by the states, not by Washington D.C. The document does not give the president any power to set those rules. This demand is unusual, especially because Republicans have traditionally supported states’ rights and limiting federal power.
Trump’s claim challenges the basic structure of American elections
This is not the first time Trump has tried to reduce the states’ role in running elections. In August, he complained about mail-in ballots on Truth Social and said he would sign an executive order to “help bring HONESTY” to the midterm elections. He argued that states should just follow federal instructions about voting.
Trump wrote that states are “merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes.” He added, “They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do.” This statement misunderstands how American elections are structured under the Constitution. Speaker Mike Johnson has defended Trump on controversial issues in the past.
Donald Trump went on Dan Bongino’s show and said Republicans should nationalize elections across the country so they can take it over. We need to take him very seriously when he says things like this. pic.twitter.com/RndIq47CCZ
— Mike Nellis (@MikeNellis) February 2, 2026
Trump made his latest comments on Monday, February 2, 2026, less than a week after the FBI searched a warehouse in Fulton County, Georgia. This county has been the center of conspiracy theories about the 2020 results. The warrant allowed agents to take physical ballots, machine tabulator tapes, images from the ballot count, and voter rolls from that year.
Trump did not discuss the warrant’s findings during his talk with Bongino. However, he claimed without evidence that there are “states that are so crooked” and “states I won that show I didn’t win.” He hinted that “some interesting things come out” of Georgia.
He also claimed that undocumented immigrants voted illegally in 2020 without providing any proof. U.S. national security officials found no evidence of widespread fraud in 2020, and courts have rejected these claims as unfounded. If Congress tried to “take over” elections as Trump suggested, it is unclear what they could legally do.
Congress can set some nationwide rules, like creating a national Election Day or requiring accurate voter rolls. However, lawmakers have always let states manage their own election procedures and laws. This idea ignores the basic framework of American government. Trump has been involved in other controversial political battles recently, including conflicts over trade policies.
