In the U.S., presidents do not have the legal power to delay or cancel elections.
In fact, the U.S. Constitution requires that a new Congress be sworn in a year after a new administration has been elected (this time on January 3, 2027). So, Election Day is set in law, and though it is theoretically possible for Congress to change the date of national elections, neither the POTUS nor Congress can actually cancel the national elections. But none of that means that this particular POTUS, Donald Trump, won’t try seriously to interfere with, control, cancel, or otherwise undermine the coming elections. He has shown many, many times that he feels little restraint from the law to do whatever he wants.
And as he has said often enough, he does not trust America’s voting system. In fact, he is still trying to find anyone who believes that he, not Joe Biden, won the 2020 national elections. To him, a powerful mentality can change facts not in their favor just by ignoring them and convincing others to join that fantasy. He just recently had federal officers raid the voting commission in Georgia, claiming that state illegally cost him votes in 2020. He has also openly criticized and made many pronouncements about federalizing the national elections process coming up for 2026 and has already negatively impacted the U.S. Post Office’s control of the vote-by-mail process.
We should all fully expect a full-scale assault by the Trump administration on the upcoming national elections for Congress in November. If they go badly for his political party—as they are generally expected to do this cycle—whatever the rest of his chaotic agenda looks like will be seriously at risk. But this POTUS does not believe in fair play and has shown that repeatedly. If you want something, simply take it, whether it is legal or not, seems to be his motto. Let them try and stop you if they can. Elections in America are supposed to be sacrosanct and are regularly and legally administered by each state (according to the U.S. Constitution), so state governors and legislatures could, in theory, change the dates of their own elections in order to deal with, say, a major disaster, but there’s no precedent for doing that in this country.
Since this POTUS seems actually afraid of regular, legal elections and has consistently demonstrated distrust of such, though he thinks he has conquered that mountain and will do so again if forced to, he has already started tinkering with whatever emergency powers he can seize to control the outcomes of those elections, if he cannot just unilaterally stop them. We, the American people, need to get ready for that rodeo, for it will surely come. He recently told the New York Times that he regrets not directing the National Guard to seize voting machines after the 2020 election to ensure that he won.
Even when he has won, his usual spiel is that the elections were still rigged. Though he has never been able to prove any widespread voter fraud, he still regularly rails against the system of citizen voting. He is still seeking to literally kill mail-in voting and has recently gotten new restrictions placed on the process, though he still cannot kill it.
Congress will significantly change in November 2026. Of that, we can be sure. But we also have to expect every Trumpian trick in the book to be used to muddy the waters of America’s right to vote. Buckle up!!
Professor David L. Horne is founder and executive director of PAPPEI, the Pan African Public Policy and Ethical Institute, which is a new 501(c)(3) pending community-based organization or non-governmental organization (NGO). It is the stepparent organization for the California Black Think Tank which still operates and which meets every fourth Friday.