Trump declines to rule out declaring an election emergency before the midterms
Asked in an interview to declare a national security emergency for elections — a step his interviewer said would force through photo identification, proof of citizenship and limits on mail-in ballots — President Trump declined to rule it out, answering, "Let me just say that stranger things have happened, OK?"
What happened
Wayne Allyn Root of Real America's Voice put the proposal to Trump during an interview, offering it as an alternative to the stalled SAVE America Act: "If they never get the SAVE America Act done, you have the right to declare a national security emergency for elections." Root added that "if you declare a national security emergency as the president of the United States, they can't challenge it… So if you do this in the next month, we will get photo ID, proof of citizenship (for voter registration) and a limit to mail-in ballots." Trump cut Root off: "Let me just say that stranger things have happened, OK?" CNN reported that it had asked the White House for more detail on what the president meant, and noted that Trump often responds to hypotheticals by declining to rule them out.
Why it matters
Federal election rules are set by Congress and the states. A president publicly declining to rule out setting them instead by emergency declaration is not the same as doing it — but it puts the option on the record in his own words, which is the material a reader needs in order to judge whether the option is being prepared.