President Donald Trump speaks with reporters before departing from the White House in Washington, DC, on February 6, 2026. | Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump seemingly cannot let the 2020 election go. Despite winning convincingly in 2024, including, for the first time in his political career, the popular vote, he remains fixated on the idea that he also won four years prior, against former President Joe Biden.

Now, a year into his second term, Trump’s director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, has reportedly dedicated months to finding new “evidence” that 2020 was stolen from him (it was not).

Trump’s continued preoccupation, along with a raid on an Atlanta-area elections office last month, has raised concerns about what Trump could have planned for the 2026 midterms this November. As CNN’s Marshall Cohen told Today, Explained co-host Astead Herndon in a recent episode, Trump’s desire to avoid another defeat could result in a “worst-case scenario”: “He might try to put his thumb on the scales, use government powers, use federal authorities to try to influence the process,” Cohen said.

Below is an excerpt of their conversation, edited for length and clarity. There’s much more in the full episode, so listen to Today, Explained wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.

What has Trump been saying about the midterms?

He made a lot of news just a few days ago when he went farther than he’s ever gone before. Trump told a radio host that:

The Republicans should say, “We want to take over. We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places.” The........

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