Trump sets the American midterms on fire: his four-point strategy worries experts

Donald Trump questions the US election system with new interventions.Even team members are worried.How far can he go?

Nine months before the next US election, Donald Trump is launching the next level of escalation.With heightened rhetoric about "voter fraud," the president is trying to restructure the election system in favor of Republicans in time for the "midterm elections" in November.His latest demand strikes at the federal heart of America's election law: Washington must take the reins in 15 of the 50 states - Trump wouldn't say which - and thereby undermine state jurisdiction that has existed for some 240 years and is enshrined in the Constitution.Trump justifies it with "terrible corruption" and the inability of said local authorities to "count the votes legally and fairly".He provides no evidence.

However, his complaints as part of a public promotion, as a choice of the choices, doing doubts more than the middle of the middle.The teacher is clear: when falling in falling, as the most recent shopping, etcles to the range of via.

Trumpets use a clear four-note tone.

First: delaying or canceling postal voting.It's been argued for years that it's structurally vulnerable to fraud — even though election commissions, including those in Republican-governed states, and numerous court rulings suggest otherwise.

Second: add obstacles to people who have the right to vote.Residents must prove they are US citizens when they register.Disadvantaged social groups in particular, including many African Americans, often do not have the necessary documents because they do not need them in their daily lives.

Third, the delegitimization of voting machines.If possible, only hand-counted ballots should remain.

Fourth: politically changing constituencies.Republican-held states are being forced to draw messy boundaries in a way that puts Democratic candidates at a structural disadvantage.This method, called "gerrymandering", is legal in Parliament but highly controversial in terms of Democratic politics.

Many observers see the FBI operation in Fulton County, Georgia, as a warning sign of how seriously Trump is taking his attacks.In late January, federal authorities seized thousands of election materials for the 2020 presidential election — ballots, voter lists, administrative documents — in storage.Election officials were pressured to "find" about 12,000 extra votes that would have spoiled Joe Biden's victory.

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Lawyers like Rick Hassan warn of the symbolic impact of such actions: election records are pulled from an administrative framework into a penal framework.Local election offices become embroiled in national power struggles years later.Confidence will suffer doubly – if nothing credible is finally found among Trump supporters, and if traces of political instrumentalization remain among his opponents.

Even within the Republican Party, Trump's nationalization plan faces opposition.In addition to prominent Trump critics such as Rand Paul, House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune have also opposed a federal takeover of election management.

Trump wants to implement stricter verification requirements

At the same time, Trump expanded his toolbox from 2025.His Executive Order 14248 includes stricter evidence requirements, tougher federal enforcement against states with liberal mail-in voting practices, additional requirements for voting systems, and the power to cut funding.The constitutional issue is central: states have primary authority over the "time, place, and manner" of elections;The President is not the legislator of this area.Several courts have already blocked essential parts of it.Orders - for example, a request for registration of documents and interference with the existing rules of postal voting.

Meanwhile, leverage is being exerted in Congress: The 2025 “Rescue Act” (H.R.22) passed the House.The next Republican campaign ("Save America") was launched in early 2026.The bottom line is that only US citizens should be allowed to vote in federal elections.Implementation is controversial: Watchdog groups such as the Bipartisan Policy Center point to rare non-citizen cases, but the law warns voters of major hurdles if proof requirements are not met.

The legal situation in the voting dispute is also more complicated than Trump's slogans.The practice of "stamped on time, received later" is legally challenged;several courts emphasize that the decisive factor is often timely filing, not necessarily receipt on election day.Trump's general claim that delayed receipts are inherently fraudulent remains unsubstantiated.

Capital Inside by Jörg Quoos, Editor-in-Chief of the FUNKE Central Editorial Team.

Capital Inside by Jörg Quoos, editor-in-chief of FUNKE's central editorial office

With voting machines, the line is similar: technical skepticism on the one hand, political delegitimization on the other.A verifiable paper log is a valid instrument of integrity.The general narrative that "the machine stole the election" is, however, considered by experts to be completely unfounded.

The same sentence applies to the worst case scenario. Trump "removes" the middle words, the keyword "Insurrection Act."If the civil unrest leads to the deployment of troops, the election will be in jeopardy, according to Washington politicians.Really?In short, it is legally impossible unless the constitution and the majority of Congress agree.The dates for congressional and presidential elections are fixed by law.The changes are in Congress, not Congress.President: Even if the Sedition Act is read as much as possible (deployment of troops in the interior), it does not mean that there is no blank check to remove the election.Especially since the criminal law has clear restrictions on the presence of the military in polling stations.

Still, the conclusions of many Republican and independent election watchers far from Trump are sobering. The biggest risk now is not outright annulment of the election, but a gradual political rewrite of it, from neutral executive actions to ongoing loyalty tests.honesty becomes a weapon. Even if votes are still counted on election day, democracy can be undermined.