President Trump to close Trump Kennedy Center for two years for renovations
President Donald Trump has announced that the Trump Kennedy Center will be closed for renovations that will take two years.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said Republicans should “nationalize” the voting process as he continues to make baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, more than five years after losing to Joe Biden.
President Trump appeared on the podcast of Dan Bongino, who returned to the show on February 2 after resigning as FBI deputy director in the Trump administration in January, and called on Republicans at the federal level to take control of elections away from the states.
“Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over. We should take over voting in at least as many 15 places,'” Trump said. “Republicans should nationalize voting. There are some states where it’s very skewed.”
The Constitution gives the states, rather than the federal government, the power to set the “times, places, and manner” of holding federal elections, but it does give Congress the power to “make or alter” the rules.
President Trump’s comments came after the FBI executed a search warrant on January 28 at the Fulton County Election Center near Atlanta as part of an investigation related to the 2020 presidential election. Georgia is one of the states Biden won, but Trump falsely claims was stolen from Biden.
“There are states that I won that Joe didn’t,” Trump said. “Now, in the state of Georgia, we were able to get the court order and the ballots. We’re going to see some interesting things come out.”
The New York Times, citing three people familiar with the discussions, reported that President Trump spoke directly with some of the FBI agents who conducted the raid the day after it was conducted. According to the Times, Trump said Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard connected with FBI agents by phone and that she visited the agency in person.
President Trump has called on Republicans to federalize elections, accusing Democrats of bringing immigrants into the U.S. to vote illegally, an accusation often made by Trump and his supporters but not supported by evidence. Only U.S. citizens can vote in federal and state elections.
“These people were brought into our country to vote, and they are voting illegally,” Trump said. “It’s surprising that Republicans aren’t tougher on this issue.”
X Contact Joey Garrison at @joeygarrison.
