'All That Matters Is Protecting His Power': Experts Call Out Donald Trump's Alleged Midterm Plans

Election-security experts are warning that claims of foreign interference could become a flashpoint after the 2026 US midterm elections, potentially creating pressure to challenge ballot counts or gain access to election equipment.

Caitlin Durkovich, a former deputy homeland security adviser for resilience and response on the National Security Council, said the Trump administration could invoke alleged foreign interference during the period between polls closing and results being certified. She suggested officials might seek to seize voting equipment or ballots even without clear legal authority.

'I think because the administration has lost so many of their attempts to disrupt the normal process in court, that they are going to use the claim of foreign interference at the end of voting days to either seize equipment or to seize ballots, whether they're legally justified to do so or not,' Durkovich said at a Brennan Center for Justice briefing.

Her remarks describe a potential scenario, not evidence that the Trump administration has adopted a plan to seize election materials. Trump and his administration have not announced such a policy.

The Post-Election Window Could Become a Flashpoint

The 2026 midterms are scheduled for 3 November, but election-night results are not necessarily final. Election officials may still need to count outstanding ballots, resolve provisional ballots, conduct canvassing and complete other procedures before results can be certified. The process varies by state and can take days or weeks.

'That period, that waiting time, is where doubt begins to surface,' Durkovich said. 'And when it is then amplified by foreign actors and, frankly, by domestic actors, it starts to cause distrust in the integrity of the process.'

Trump's China Claims Face Scrutiny

In a 16 July 2026 televised address, Trump said China had acquired 220 million US voter files and described the activity as a major election-security threat.

The White House later released documents it said supported the claim. Fact-checkers found that Chinese actors had sought US voter data, but the material did not establish that China had altered ballots or changed election results. Much US voter-registration data is publicly available or commercially obtainable.

A 2021 US intelligence assessment found no indication that any foreign actor had attempted to alter the technical aspects of the 2020 election, including voter registration, ballot casting, vote tabulation or reporting results. It did, however, identify foreign influence operations intended to affect public opinion and undermine confidence in the electoral process.

Influence Is Not Technical Interference

Beth Sanner, a former deputy director of national intelligence, told the Brennan Center briefing that there were no examples of a foreign country attempting to interfere in the technical process of counting votes in 2020.

'It's very important for people to understand that we don't have any examples of a country trying to interfere in the electoral process, in that technical process,' Sanner said. 'It just didn't happen. It didn't happen in 2020.'

Foreign influence can include propaganda, disinformation and attempts to manipulate public opinion. Technical election interference involves attempts to disrupt or manipulate the systems used to conduct or count an election.

US intelligence has warned that foreign actors are likely to use information operations after voting ends to create uncertainty and undermine confidence in the election process.

Critics Question Trump's Strategy

Voting-rights advocates have interpreted Trump's election rhetoric as part of a broader effort to increase federal involvement in election administration.

Dan Vicuña, senior policy director for Voting and Fair Representation at Common Cause, said Trump's actions pointed to a desire to avoid accountability at the ballot box.

'What they all add up to is a desire to avoid any accountability to the voters in the midterm elections — to ensure, to preordain the outcome of a midterm that he thinks is going to go badly for him,' Vicuña said.

Those are Vicuña's interpretations, not evidence of a secret Trump plan. The administration has argued that stronger election-security measures are needed to protect against foreign interference and other threats.

No Evidence of a Trump Order To Seize Ballots

The central concern is not necessarily that votes will be altered. It is that allegations of an attack could spread quickly enough to trigger litigation, pressure election officials or undermine confidence in results still being formally counted.

The 2026 midterms have not yet taken place, and there is no evidence that Trump has ordered officials to seize ballots or voting equipment after the election. The unresolved question is whether claims of foreign interference after 3 November will remain within established legal procedures or become a justification for attempts to intervene in how ballots and election equipment are handled.