President Donald Trump did not dismiss the idea of declaring a national security emergency around U.S. elections in order to unilaterally enforce his proof of citizenship, required voter ID and restrictions on mail-in-ballot voting in federal elections.
In an interview with Trump Monday, Real America’s Voice host Wayne Allyn Root suggested the president declare a national security emergency to bypass Congress’s approval on new voting requirements under the SAVE Act before the midterms.
“Let me just say that stranger things have happened, Ok. I’ll leave it at that,” Trump said.
The president did not expand on is cryptic remarks. But his insinuation that a presidential election security measure could come before November aligns with his desire to impose new requirements to assert more control over U.S. elections.
Trump has long insisted, without providing evidence, that U.S. elections can be “rigged” by fake ballots, voter fraud, tampering and more. There has never been any evidence that mass voter fraud has swayed an election outcome.
Regardless of the evidence, Trump’s allies – including media figures such as Root – have suggested the president make an unprecedented move to take over elections.
“Let me put an idea in your head OK,” Root said Monday.
“You have the right to declare a national security emergency for elections,” Root said. “[Congress] can’t challenge it; it can only be overturned by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress. So if you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship and a limit to mail-in ballots.”
While Congress needs two-thirds in the House and Senate to overturn executive emergencies, Trump does not inherently possess the legal authority to change election rules.
In a March 2026 article, the Center for American Progress noted that no federal executive branch official had the authority to alter rules for federal elections. The Constitution only gives Congress the authority to alter how federal elections are administered.
The president has made several attempts at forcibly instilling his preferred rules around voting – which includes requiring people to prove their U.S. citizenship, requiring ID to cast a ballot, restricting mail-in-ballot voting under certain circumstances and more.
But most of his efforts have been fruitless.
A federal judge has blocked the president from enforcing an executive order, signed last year, directing states to create a list of eligible citizens to help determine voter eligibility. Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal elections. Research shows noncitizen voting is extremely rare.
Additionally, courts have prevented Trump from enforcing an executive order intending to restrict mail-in ballot voting.
A federal appeals court had ruled that Trump’s order “directs unprecedented levels of involvement by federal officials in how states administer elections.”
The Trump administration recently asked the Supreme Court to allow him to restrict voting by mail.
The president has expressed frustrations because he unsuccessfully sought to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, an unpopular piece of legislation that critics warn is an effort to disenfranchise voters. So far, Congress has not approved the act.
