Trump Advocates for Nationalization of Elections Amidst Controversial Claim

Tue Feb 03 2026 21:02:15 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

In a recent podcast interview, Donald Trump called for the nationalization of US elections, suggesting that Republicans should take control of voting processes in key areas, while reiterating unsubstantiated claims of the 2020 election being fraudulent.

In a podcast discussion with former deputy FBI director Dan Bongino, Donald Trump proposed that Republicans take control of voting in the US by 'nationalizing' elections. His claims come alongside ongoing investigations into election fraud and raise significant discussion about the implications for local control over voting. Trump reiterated his belief of widespread fraud in the 2020 elections, despite evidence to the contrary, tying his agenda to broader issues such as immigration.

US President Donald Trump has urged Republicans to 'nationalise' elections and repeated his false claims of 2020 election fraud in a new podcast interview.

American elections are primarily run by state law, and voting has long been administered by local officials across the country.

The Republicans should say: 'We want to take over. We should take over the voting in at least 15 places.' The Republicans ought to nationalise the voting, Trump stated during the podcast of his former deputy FBI director, Dan Bongino. His remarks come days after the FBI raided an elections office in Georgia to examine voting records from the 2020 election.

In the interview, Trump did not specify which '15 places' he thought Republicans should nationalise voting.

The president linked his push for federalizing voting processes to his key agenda item of deporting undocumented immigrants from the US. If Republicans don't get them out, you will never win another election as a Republican, he warned.

Trump also discussed the FBI's raid in Georgia's Fulton County, suggesting that you're going to see some interesting things come out. Trump lost Georgia to Joe Biden in 2020 and has consistently claimed that his loss resulted from fraud, despite these assertions being unsubstantiated.

Currently, Trump faces two criminal indictments regarding alleged election interference in Georgia and has denied any wrongdoing.

He reiterated in the podcast that he won the 2020 election in a landslide and claimed, with no evidence, that illegal voting occurred.

The FBI's recent activities have stirred controversy, including a raid described as an 'assault on your vote' by local officials, and drew the involvement of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who confirmed she was present during the raid at Trump's request.

In a letter to senators, Gabbard explained her presence was justified by her responsibilities in coordinating intelligence related to election security, recently raising eyebrows due to her facilitation of communication between Trump and FBI agents.