Trump calls for Republicans to 'nationalize' voting

President Trump called for the Republican Party to “nationalize” voting in the United States during a podcast interview released Feb. 2, 2026, saying Republicans should “take over” voting in at least 15 places, The New York Times reported. On the Dan Bongino podcast, Mr. Trump said, “The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” adding, “We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places.

The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” He did not name the states. The article notes that under the Constitution elections are governed by state law and are administered locally, and it describes Mr. Trump’s broader push to exert more control over election administration, including recent actions by his administration.

Those actions include F.B.I. agents seizing ballots and voting records from a 2020 election center in Fulton County, Ga., last week, and reporting that Mr. Trump spoke by phone to the agents involved to praise and thank them. The Justice Department is demanding that numerous states, including Minnesota, turn over full voter rolls as the administration seeks to build a national voter file.

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