President Donald Trump called for Republicans to take control of elections in at least 15 states during a Monday interview, citing concerns over illegal voting and election integrity. The remarks came amid an FBI raid on a Georgia election office probing 2020 interference allegations. Trump tied the push to his unsubstantiated claims of winning the 2020 election decisively.
In an interview with conservative podcaster Dan Bongino on February 3, 2026, President Donald Trump suggested Republicans should 'nationalize' voting processes in states he described as crooked. '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 stated. He accused these states of allowing illegal immigrants to vote, claiming, 'These people were brought to our country to vote, and they vote illegally.' Trump warned that without deporting millions of immigrants entering under President Biden, Republicans 'will never win another election.'
Trump's comments followed an FBI raid on January 29, 2026, at a Fulton County, Georgia, election office, where agents seized 700 boxes of materials related to a federal probe into 2020 election interference. He predicted the investigation would reveal 'interesting things,' insisting, 'I won that election by so much. Everybody knows it.' Trump lost Georgia to Joe Biden by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020 and has repeatedly alleged the results were rigged. Fulton County officials questioned the raid's legality and vowed to sue for the return of the ballots.
The White House defended Trump's focus on election security, with spokeswoman Abigail Jackson stating, 'President Trump cares deeply about the safety and security of our elections.' She highlighted his support for the SAVE Act, which passed the House but stalled in the Senate. The legislation would mandate photo ID and proof of citizenship for voting to prevent noncitizen participation, while prohibiting no-excuse mail-in voting and ballot harvesting.
American elections are decentralized, run primarily at state and county levels under Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution, which allows Congress to override state regulations. Trump also claimed he won Minnesota in the past three presidential elections, despite official results showing Democratic victories. His remarks underscore ongoing tensions over voter fraud allegations, which investigations in states like Georgia have found to be rare.
