Trump Floats Emergency Power Over Elections

By Buck Buckhorn · August 11, 2026

Opinion

So the president of the United States goes on a cable show at midnight and gets pitched on declaring a national emergency to federalize elections, and his response is “stranger things have happened.” That’s a direct quote. Not “no.” Not “that’s crazy.” Not “I would never do that.” Just a little grin and a wink to the camera.

Here’s what happened. Wayne Allyn Root, a guy who hosts a show on Real America’s Voice and has spent years peddling conspiracy theories, called into Trump’s orbit after midnight and laid out the whole playbook. The Senate can’t pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote in federal elections. So Root says: just declare a national emergency. Snap your fingers. You get photo ID, proof of citizenship, and limits on mail-in ballots by executive fiat, and the only way Congress stops you is a two-thirds vote in both chambers. Good luck getting that.

Root went on Steve Bannon’s podcast and called it “the holy grail.” Said it’s “foolproof.” Said “they’re going to panic” and “there’s nothing they can do.” He’s been teasing this for weeks, predicting Trump would declare by mid-August. MAGA activists have apparently been circulating a draft executive order inside the White House for over a year, one that uses China’s alleged interference in the 2020 election as the pretext.

Donald Trump, President of the United States responding to a pitch about declaring a national emergency over elections.

Now ask yourself a simple question. If this plan is so obviously unconstitutional, so clearly illegal, so laughably absurd, then why is everyone in the establishment sweating through their shirts about it?

The Brennan Center for Justice, a well-funded operation that sits comfortably inside the nonprofit industrial complex, has been running point on the opposition. They put out a whole event page connecting the dots between Trump’s March executive order on elections, his administration dismantling the federal agency that protects election security, and his targeting of election officials who don’t fall in line. They call it a “concerted push to undermine American elections.” Sean Morales-Doyle, their voting rights director, is lined up to explain why this is all very dangerous and very illegal. A former special counsel at the Defense Department called the emergency declaration plan a “madcap scheme.”

Funny how the experts always know exactly what the president can’t do but never seem to have an answer for what happens when he does it anyway.

Here’s what the Constitution actually says: states and Congress run elections. The president has “virtually no role.” That’s not my opinion. That’s the plain text. The Founders set it up that way for a reason, because they’d watched what happens when one man controls the ballot box. They fought a whole war over it.

Wayne Allyn Root, Host of Real America's Voice who called into Trump's orbit to pitch an emergency declaration plan.

But here’s the other thing nobody in the panic brigade wants to talk about. Trump’s approval ratings are in the tank. His own base is losing steam. Republicans are openly worried the White House is leaving them hanging on the Iran war and the cost of living. And right when all of that is boiling over, suddenly there’s this big dramatic midnight pitch about emergency powers and election takeovers. Media Matters found right-wing election deniers calling it a way to give the president “king-like powers.” Root himself is out there saying “this is how Trump destroys them.”

Destroys who, exactly? The Democrats? Or the voters who are starting to ask hard questions about why groceries still cost a fortune and we’re shipping weapons overseas?

I’m not saying the emergency declaration plan is a distraction. I’m saying when a politician with sinking poll numbers starts entertaining ideas about controlling how elections work, you should pay very close attention to what’s happening in the other hand. The swamp doesn’t fight this hard against something unless there’s something in it for them too. And the grifters don’t push this hard unless there’s something in it for them. The little guy, as usual, is the one who gets to live with whatever they cook up.

SAVE America Act, Legislation requiring proof of citizenship and photo ID to vote in federal elections.

Stranger things have happened, the president said. Yeah. They have. That’s the part that should keep you up at night.

Sources

Editor’s note. It is a small comfort that the author's own column ends with a dangling sentence, just as the author's argument ends with a dangling sentence, proving that panic is the only thing we have to hold onto. (W.K.)