Trump is already trying to manipulate the midterms.

Donald Trump spent the aftermath of the 2020 election searching for ways to change a result he didn’t like. Six years later, he is starting much earlier. Rather than waiting until November 3 to decide whether he trusts the midterm elections, he is trying to change who controls them before any votes are cast. Yesterday, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to fully implement an executive order that would give the executive branch an extraordinary role in running elections. The order directs the Department of Homeland Security to create a “State Citizenship List” of people the federal government considers eligible to vote. It tells the Justice Department to investigate and possibly prosecute election officials who issue ballots to people the administration deems ineligible. It also tells the Postal Service not to transmit mail ballots unless voters appear on an approved list. This can sound technical because it involves databases, voter lists and mail-ballot rules. But this is what it’s all about: Trump wants more control over the midterm elections and he’s trying to find ways to get it. He wants the federal government to decide who is eligible to receive a mail ballot. And if state election officials disagree, his administration wants the power to investigate them and possibly prosecute them. States normally run elections, including registering voters and distributing and counting ballots. Congress can pass national election laws, but the president can’t make the rules on his own. Congress has considered some of the election rules Trump wants. The House passed the SAVE America Act, which would impose new proof-of-citizenship requirements and tighter rules on mail voting, but the Senate hasn’t. Trump is now trying to get through executive action what he hasn’t been able to get through Congress. Trump has been unusually candid about this. In February, he told Dan Bongino, “We should take over the voting, the voting, in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.” In an earlier Truth Social post, he claimed states are merely “an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government” in counting votes and “must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them” to do. On January 6, the date of Trump's insurrection, one thing has become clearer with time: January 6 didn’t begin when the mob arrived. It began when Trump decided that election results certified by the states were legitimate only if they declared him the winner.