Peter Ticktin, an 80‑year‑old Florida lawyer and longtime friend of Donald Trump, is urging the president to declare a national emergency and assert federal control over the 2026 midterm elections through a sweeping 17‑page draft executive order, according to reports published in recent months.
Trump allies, anchored in unproven claims that foreign governments have infiltrated US voting systems. Ticktin, who attended New York Military Academy with Trump, has moved from the periphery of the president's world into a more visible role in election denial circles, fronting legal efforts for figures such as Tina Peters, the former Colorado county clerk convicted over tampering with election equipment and released from prison last month after Trump personally pressed Colorado's Democratic governor to commute her sentence.
