U.S. President Donald Trump sits at his desk, behind a hat that reads “America is back” at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., Feb. 3, 2026.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said “the federal government should get involved” in elections in states that are unable to “legally and honestly” administer them on their own.
If they can’t, then “somebody else should take over,” Trump said in the Oval Office after he signed a bill to fund the federal government.
The comments show Trump is not backing off his recent suggestion that Republicans should “nationalize” elections, even as Democrats raise concerns that the administration may try to interfere in the upcoming midterms.
“If a state can’t run an election, I think the people behind me should do something about it,” Trump said in the Oval Office, referring to the handful of Republican lawmakers standing around him.
He had been asked what he meant when, in a podcast interview released Monday, he called on members of the Republican Party to “take over the voting.”
“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over. We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places … the Republicans ought to nationalize the voting,'” Trump said in that interview with former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino.
Trump spoke at the White House hours after the House narrowly approved a measure to end the partial government shutdown. That vote was close because hard-line Republicans wanted to compel the Senate to consider the SAVE Act, which would institute voter ID requirements across the country. Trump has urged congressional Republicans to pass that bill.
States are primarily responsible for governing their own election systems under the U.S. Constitution. When asked about that fact on Tuesday, Trump replied, “They can administer the election, but they have to do it honestly.”
He also said, “If you think about it, a state is an agent for the federal government in elections. I don’t know why the federal government doesn’t do them anyway. But when you see some of these states about, how horribly they run their elections, what a disgrace it is.”
Trump echoed his frequent claim that elections in the 2020 cycle — when he lost his reelection bid to former President Joe Biden — were “rigged” and “crooked.” There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 elections.
“Take a look at Detroit,” he said. “Take a look at Philadelphia. You go take a look at Atlanta.”
“Look at some of the places that — horrible corruption on elections, and the federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved,” Trump said.
“These are agents of the federal government to count the votes. If they can’t count the votes legally and honestly, then somebody else should take over.”
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