In his State of the Union address, the president claimed there was “rampant fraud” in U.S. elections and said he wanted voter ID laws and other strict checks.
President Trump: ‘All voters must present voter ID’
In his first State of the Union address of his second term, Trump exemplified the defiant, combative style of speech that characterized his candidacy.
WASHINGTON – In his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump called for passage of a “Save the Country” bill to protect the 2026 midterm elections from fraud and illegal voting.
In a speech on February 24, President Trump said, “There is rampant fraud in our elections.” President Trump said of Democrats’ opposition to the American Rescue Act, “The reason they don’t want to do it is because they want to cheat. There’s only one reason.”
President Trump called on Republican Senate Minority Leader John Thune (South Dakota) to pass the bill as soon as possible, saying, “Congress must come together and enact this common sense bill to save our country now.”
Trump added: “It’s very simple.” “All voters must present a voter ID. All voters must present proof of citizenship to vote. And no more falsified mail-in ballots are prohibited, except for illness, disability, military or travel. None.”
Democrats also worry that interference could skew the November election, arguing that the SAVE America Act itself could disenfranchise large numbers of eligible Democratic voters, especially minorities and women, and give Republicans an unfair advantage.
Stakeholders across the political spectrum agree that the bill, which has already passed Congress, would be one of the most far-reaching federal interventions in election administration in recent years.
But that’s all they agree on.
Here’s what we know:
What does this bill do?
The Protecting American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE America) passed the Republican-led House of Representatives on February 11, but faces a precarious future in the Senate. An earlier version failed to gain support in both chambers last year. This latest iteration builds on the 2024 version by adding voter ID provisions and would need 60 votes to pass.
Supporters, including Mr. Trump and Republican lawmakers, say the bill would limit voter registration to U.S. citizens, require photo voter ID in federal elections and force states to remove non-citizens from voter rolls.
Why are Democrats and voting rights groups opposed to it?
The bill has raised alarm among Democrats, voting rights groups and election law experts who say it would potentially disenfranchise millions of Americans by making it harder to register and vote.
The bill would create new rules for voting by mail, which opponents say would favor Republicans, who are less likely to vote by mail, such as requiring proof of citizenship to register and vote in federal elections.
Another concern is that married people who change their last name may have a harder time proving they are eligible to vote because the name on their proof of citizenship (such as a birth certificate) may not match the name on a photo ID such as a driver’s license.
Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said Democrats also oppose the “draconian” bill because it would require all states to hand over their voter rolls to the Department of Homeland Security and could be misused.
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Aguilar said on February 11 that “the last thing Americans want is for their voter information to be turned over to DHS.”
Fact-checking of President Trump’s claims such as 89% approval rating for the Democratic Party
Trump has long argued that Democrats want to bypass strict voter ID protections because they want to allow illegal immigrants to vote. The Democratic Party strongly denies that.
Studies show that there is very little fraud in U.S. elections and that fraudulent votes do not change the outcome. A study by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice found that out of 1 million voters, only three votes were fraudulent.
President Trump also said that these requirements are “supported by 89% of Americans, including Democrats.”
The White House did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment on Trump’s remarks, including which polls he cited.
However, President Trump has previously cited an August Pew Research Center poll that found 83% of American adults support requiring voters to present a government-issued photo ID to vote, including 71% of Democrats and 95% of Republicans.
Amy Sherman of the Poynter Institute’s Nonpartisan Politifact Fact-Checking Research Center said years of research shows widespread support for voter ID.
But surveys typically don’t capture nuance, she says, and often present voter ID as a “yes” or “no” option.
For example, Sherman said in PolitiFact’s analysis of President Trump’s speech that the Pew survey asked people whether they supported “requiring all voters to present a government-issued photo ID to vote.”
“I was not asked whether I supported the SAVE America Act’s requirement that mail-in voters submit a copy of their ID with their mail-in ballot,” Sherman said. He said the inquiry also did not ask about documentary proof of citizenship requirements set out in the law.
Most states already have some form of voter ID requirement. The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a nonpartisan, independent agency created by Congress in 1957, found in a September 2018 report that states across the country have enacted voting procedures that “unfairly prevent some citizens from voting and have a disparate impact on voters of color and poor citizens.”
People of color and low-income Americans are less likely to have a driver’s license at their current address. This disparity has partisan implications. A 2024 study by the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement found that 23% of Democrats do not have a license under their current name or address, compared to 16% of Republicans.
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On February 23, 80 prominent conservative groups signed on to the SAVE America Act Coalition, urging Thune to immediately bring the bill to the floor for consideration by the full Senate.
Conservative groups including Citizens United and the Election Integrity Network said in a letter that Thune should implement a “verbal filibuster.” This is a strategy to get Democrats to debate the bill on the Senate floor and “tell the American people why we oppose these important election integrity measures.”
Thune told Fox News anchor Aisha Husney on Feb. 25 that he supports the bill and hopes to introduce it. please come vote.
“We’re in the middle of a government shutdown right now, so we have to try to get government offices reopened first,” Thune said. “But in due course, we will bring it to the floor and we will vote on it.”
Thune described the bill and broader election integrity issues as “a stark contrast between Republicans and Democrats in how they want to handle elections in this country. … If I were to run as a Democrat in the November midterm elections, this would be a problem. I wouldn’t have to defend it.”
