COLUMN: Trump Is Laying the Groundwork to Suppress the Black Vote

A Princeton Professor Sounds the Alarm

Eddie Glaude Jr., a professor at Princeton University and respected political analyst, did not mince words. In his view, Trump’s actions constitute a “five-alarm fire” that directly threatens Black voters’ access to the ballot. Glaude, who has spent his career studying American racial politics, sees this offensive as a deliberate strategy to dismantle Black political power. Trump isn’t just contesting an election he lost—he’s methodically laying the groundwork for the November 2026 midterm elections.

When an intellectual like Glaude uses the phrase “five-alarm fire,” it’s not hyperbole. It’s a cry of alarm. This is a man who knows American history, who has studied Jim Crow, who understands the mechanisms of Black voter suppression, and who is telling us: watch out, it’s happening again. Right before our eyes. In 2026. With federal agents, court orders, and a president who no longer even hides his intentions.

Fifteen States in the Crosshairs

Trump was clear on Bongino’s podcast: “Republicans should say, ‘We want to take control—we should take control of the vote in at least, well, 15 places.’ Republicans should nationalize the vote. We have states that are so corrupt, and they’re counting the votes. ” Fifteen states. Not all of them. Just the ones he deems “corrupt”—that is, the ones where he lost. Yet the U.S. Constitution is explicit: Article I stipulates that the “times, places, and manner of holding elections” fall under the jurisdiction of each state. But Trump doesn’t care. The Constitution? An obstacle to be circumvented.

Do you understand what’s happening? Trump isn’t talking about electoral reform. He isn’t talking about improving the system. He’s talking about taking control. About nationalizing. About centralizing power in the hands of the Republican Party. And when he says “15 states,” he isn’t talking about Wyoming or Montana. He’s talking about Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Arizona. He’s talking about the states where millions of Black and Latino voters live. He’s talking about the states that dared to vote against him.

History Repeats Itself

Marcus W. Robinson, a Democratic strategist, summed up the situation with brutal clarity: “We’ve seen this pattern of targeting Black voters for years—racially gerrymandered electoral maps, a Trump Justice Department determined to gut the Voting Rights Act, and relentless attacks on mail-in voting, on which many Black voters rely. By calling on Republicans to ‘take control’ of the elections, Trump is doubling down on a calculated effort to erase Black political power.” Fulton County is no accident. It’s a Democratic stronghold where the majority of registered voters are Black and Latino. That’s where Trump lost in 2020. That’s where he wants his revenge.

There is something deeply obscene about this obsession. Trump lost Georgia. Two recounts confirmed Biden’s victory. Independent audits validated the results. But Trump cannot accept that a majority of Black voters voted against him. So he’s sending in the FBI. He’s seizing ballots. He’s threatening to “nationalize” the elections. And meanwhile, millions of Black Americans are wondering if their votes will even count in November.

November 2026: The Real Issue

The polls are disastrous for the Republicans. A Fox News poll gives the Democrats a six-point lead. An Economist/YouGov poll gives them a five-point lead. In Texas, a special election for a state Senate seat resulted in a victory for Democrat Taylor Rehmet by a 14-point margin—in a district that Trump had won by 17 points in 2024. The Republicans see the wave coming. Trump sees defeat coming. And rather than accepting the verdict of the ballot box, he’s laying the groundwork to contest, sabotage, and invalidate the results.

That’s what terrifies me the most. Trump isn’t preparing to win the midterm elections. He’s preparing to steal them. He’s putting the pieces of the puzzle in place: the FBI seizing ballots, the Department of Justice suing recalcitrant counties, and Republicans in Congress talking about “nationalizing” the elections. And when the Democrats win in November—because they’re going to win; the polls are clear—Trump will have already constructed his narrative: the election was rigged, the votes were fraudulent, democracy is corrupt.

Between Republican Jubilation and Democratic Outrage

Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, hailed the FBI raid as “long overdue.” Charlie Bailey, chairman of the Georgia Democratic Party, denounced “a fragile tyrant who wields federal law enforcement to push his dangerous and baseless lies.” Senator Jon Ossoff, who is running for reelection in November, called the action “a sore loser’s crusade.” Mandela Barnes, former lieutenant governor of Wisconsin and gubernatorial candidate, warned: “The president has demonstrated time and again that he cannot be trusted. He has shown time and again that this has nothing to do with national security, integrity, or advancing the interests of the majority of Americans.”

Listen to these voices. Listen to these elected officials crying foul. And then listen to the deafening silence of the moderate Republicans. Where are they? Where are those who claimed to defend the Constitution? Where are those who swore that Trump had gone too far after January 6? They are silent. They are looking the other way. They are letting Trump turn American democracy into an autocracy, and they say nothing.

When Voter Suppression Is Disguised as Election Security

White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt attempted to justify Trump’s remarks by claiming he was referring to the SAVE Act, a Republican bill that would require voters to present identification and proof of citizenship to vote in federal elections. But this explanation doesn’t hold up: why is Trump talking about “nationalizing” only 15 states and not all of them? Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the SAVE Act “Jim Crow 2.0.” Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, stated: “This reminds us once again that the Trump administration seeks only to wear down our nation with these deplorable and unconstitutional maneuvers in the hope that we will grow weary and give in. Unfortunately for them, we are wide awake, and we will never give up anything for which our people have fought, bled, and died.”

Jim Crow 2.0. Let those words resonate. It’s 2026, and U.S. elected officials are using this phrase to describe a bill proposed by the ruling party. It’s 2026, and millions of Black Americans must fight for the right to vote that their grandparents won through blood and tears. It’s 2026, and a U.S. president is using the FBI to intimidate, harass, and terrorize Black communities that dare to vote against him.

When the Far Right Calls for the Militarization of Polling Places

Steve Bannon, Trump’s former strategist, has taken his intimidating rhetoric to a new level. He called for ICE agents and military troops to be deployed around polling places during the midterm elections. “You’re right, we’re going to have ICE surrounding the polling places in November,” he said. This statement is not insignificant. It is part of a deliberate strategy to intimidate voters, particularly in Black and Latino communities where the presence of federal law enforcement is already a source of anxiety and fear.

ICE agents surrounding polling places. Military personnel monitoring voters. Is this Trump’s America? Is this the democracy they’re selling us? Imagine being a Black or Latino voter; imagine seeing federal agents in uniform outside your polling place; imagine the fear, the intimidation, the certainty that your vote isn’t wanted. That’s exactly what Bannon wants. That’s exactly what Trump is setting up.

November 2026: A Test for American Democracy

The November 2026 midterm elections will not be ordinary elections. They will be an existential test for American democracy. Trump has made it clear that he will only accept the results if he deems them “fair”—that is, favorable to the Republicans. He has put all the pieces in place to challenge, sabotage, and invalidate any result that does not suit him. The FBI raid in Fulton County is just the beginning. The calls to “nationalize” the elections are just the beginning. The intimidation of Black and Latino voters has only just begun. And meanwhile, American democracy is dying before our very eyes.

I think of all those Black Americans who marched, who protested, who were beaten, imprisoned, and killed for the right to vote. I think of Selma. I think of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. I think of all the blood shed, all the lives sacrificed. And I see Trump destroying it all. In 2026. With the help of the FBI, the Department of Justice, and the Republican-controlled Congress. And I wonder: will that be enough? Will Americans wake up? Will they realize that their democracy is dying? Or will they look the other way, as they always have, until it’s too late?

Signed, Jacques Provost