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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump repeated his long-standing claims that American elections are "rigged" and "dishonest." He said this during an interview
with New York Times. He also said that he "always" respects the results of elections – including the ones that put him in the White House twice. When asked directly if he would accept the outcome if Democrats won the 2026 midterm elections, Trump first said, "I always respect the results of elections." But he quickly added that elections in the U.S. are full of cheating. "If Democrats didn’t cheat, they couldn’t win," he said.
Here is what you need to know
The comments came one day after the fifth anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. That riot happened after Trump and his supporters claimed the 2020 election had been stolen from him. Courts rejected dozens of challenges to the 2020 results, and experts say there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud.Trump has often criticized mail-in voting, the lack of a national voter ID requirement, and other parts of the voting system, saying they allow opponents to steal votes. He continued that line in the interview. He also brought up his own victories.
"I won three times," says Trump
"I won the last election by, I made it too big to rig," Trump said, referring to his most recent win. Then he repeated his claim that he actually won in 2020 as well. "I shouldn’t complain, I won three times," he said. "I did great the second time, and I didn’t get credited with that."In separate remarks this week, Trump told House Republicans he worries about Democrats gaining seats in the 2026 midterms. He said a big Democratic win could lead to a third impeachment against him. He has stopped short of suggesting elections should end, noting that doing so might make him seem like a dictator.
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On January 6th, according to a report from Bulwark, Trump said "I won’t say, ‘Cancel the election, they should cancel the election,’ because the fake news will say, ‘He wants the elections canceled. He’s a dictator.’”
Meanwhile, the White House website yesterday posted material that rewrote the official account of the January 6 events. Trump's latest statements keep alive his years-long push to question trust in the country's voting system, even as he insists he respects whatever results come out.
