On February 26, 2026, ABC News and the Washington Post reported that pro-Trump attorneys who say they are coordinating with the White House circulated a 17-page draft executive order that would declare a national emergency over elections. The draft claims China interfered in the 2020 election as a basis to unlock extraordinary presidential powers over voting.
The draft order would mandate voter ID, ban mail-in ballots, and require hand-counted paper ballots for the 2026 midterm elections — all imposed unilaterally by executive order, bypassing Congress and state legislatures. Sources told ABC News that Trump had reviewed the draft.
When asked about the order, Trump denied knowledge, saying “Who told you that? No, I've never heard about that.” This denial directly contradicts reporting that he had reviewed the document.
The draft order is extraordinary in its scope. It would effectively give the president control over how elections are conducted — a power the Constitution explicitly reserves for Congress and the states under Article I, Section 4. It uses a fabricated claim of Chinese election interference (for which no evidence exists) to justify a presidential takeover of election administration. A federal judge had already struck down a previous Trump election executive order as unconstitutional.
This is a blueprint for authoritarian control of elections, dressed up as national security.