U.S. President Donald Trump speaks on the day he announced the creation of a critical mineral reserve, in the Oval Office at the White House, February 2, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump stunned political analysts on Monday after he made a wild claim about the upcoming election during a podcast interview with his former FBI deputy director.
Trump appeared Monday on "The Dan Bongino Show," where he called on Republicans to "nationalize" the election process to combat voting by illegal immigrants. The U.S. Constitution says states are in control of administering elections, while the federal government is responsible for approving the results, along with limited national and domestic security roles.
"These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally," Trump said. "The Republicans should say, we should take over the voting in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that I won that show I didn't win. You're gonna see something in Georgia."
Analysts reacted to Trump's comments on social media.
"He’s saying the quiet part out loud: Trump and MAGA Republicans can’t win with their unpopular policies at the ballot box, so they want to steal the 2026 election," Sen. Ed Markey (D-MD) posted on X.
"No need to wonder why this administration raided an elections facility – Trump himself is making it clear it’s a pretext to conduct unprecedented federal intrusion into our elections," Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) posted on X."He’s a mad man and is just straight up telling us that they’re going to meddle with the election," Fox News host Jessica Tarlov posted on X.
"The last time he started talking like this, his allies minimized the risks and we ended up with Jan 6," Dartmouth political science professor Brendan Nyhan posted on X. "This time we must take him literally and seriously. These comments are a five-alarm fire for democracy. In a functioning republic, he would be impeached and removed from office."
"If you were worried about election integrity before, this would make things infinitely worse," former Republican lawmaker Justin Amash posted on X. "Decentralized elections are one of the greatest protections against large-scale fraud and abuse."
Trump: "These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally. The Republicans should say, we should take over the voting in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. We have states that I won that show I didn't win. You're gonna see… pic.twitter.com/H5hT3OvtLE
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 2, 2026