STATE OF THE (DIS)UNION: This tilts toward what we've been talking about!

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2026

How far will they go, we've asked: On this somewhat disturbing day, we'll be away from our sprawling campus until mid-afternoon. That said:

How far will this administration be willing to go with respect to November's elections? We asked that question at the start of the week, and now this report has arrived in the Washington Post:

Trump, seeking executive power over elections, is urged to declare emergency

Pro-Trump activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that claims China interfered in the 2020 election as a basis to declare a national emergency that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly previewed a plan to mandate voter ID and ban mail ballots in November’s midterm elections, and the activists expect their draft will figure into Trump’s promised executive order on the issue. The White House declined to elaborate on Trump’s plans.

“Under the Constitution, it’s the legislatures and states that really control how a state conducts its elections, and the president doesn’t have any power to do that,” said Peter Ticktin, a Florida lawyer who is advocating for the draft executive order. Ticktin attended the New York Military Academy with Trump and was part of his legal team that filed an unsuccessful 2022 lawsuit accusing Democrats of conspiring to damage him with allegations that his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia.

“But here we have a situation where the president is aware that there are foreign interests that are interfering in our election processes,” Ticktin went on. “That causes a national emergency where the president has to be able to deal with it.”

The emergency would empower the president to ban mail ballots and voting machines as the vectors of foreign interference, Ticktin argued.

The idea of claiming emergency executive powers based on allegations of foreign interference attaches new significance to the administration’s actions to reinvestigate the 2020 election. Trump has never accepted defeat, while never finding evidence of widespread fraud. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is leading a review of election security that officials said focuses on foreign influence.

And so on from there. 

How serious is this proposal? Does it represent something resembling an actual White House inclination? Is Pete Ticktin the real deal? Is he possibly just a flake?

We can't answer those questions. The Post's Isaac Arnsdorf goes on at some length, offering background information, but he doesn't seem to know at this point.

That said, we regard this as a deeply dangerous time. Ticklin may just be floating a dream—or then again, possibly not.

We ourselves are heading off to the medical mission today. We may resume these ruminations by mid-afternoon.

For those lacking access to the full report in the Washington Post, here's the overview from Mediaite, written by Isaac Schorr:

Trump Reportedly Mulling Plan to Declare ‘National Emergency’ Paving Way for Major Power Grab

The Washington Post reported that activists are working with the White House on an executive order to declare a “national emergency” over America’s elections and pave the way for a power grab.

“Pro-Trump activists who say they are in coordination with the White House are circulating a 17-page draft executive order that claims China interfered in the 2020 election as a basis to declare a national emergency that would unlock extraordinary presidential power over voting,” reported the Post‘s Isaac Arnsdorf. “President Donald Trump has repeatedly previewed a plan to mandate voter ID and ban mail ballots in November’s midterm elections, and the activists expect their draft will figure into Trump’s promised executive order on the issue.”

Peter Ticktin, a MAGA activist in favor of the executive order, told the Post that “we have a situation where the president is aware that there are foreign interests that are interfering in our election processes,” and that “the president has to be able to deal with it,” including by banning mail-in ballots and certain voting machines.

That headline and lede seem a bit overstated. At any rate, the report continues from there.