Trump’s doomed midterms plot 'would never hold up in court': experts

President Donald Trump gestures next to House Speaker Mike Johnson, on the day of a closed House Republican Conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., May 20, 2025. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

President Donald Trump's potential plan to deploy his own personal army could be doomed to fail, with one CNN reporter revealing that numerous experts have said it "would not hold up in court."

Trump's MAGA allies have recently suggested that his decision to deploy federal immigration agents to airports dealing with TSA staffing shortages is a trial run for deploying the same agents to polling places during midterm voting in November. Steve Bannon, the one-time adviser to the president and prominent MAGA advocate, has made such suggestions frequently, claiming that the federal agents would be needed to prevent non-citizens from voting.

Trump himself has long claimed that non-citizens, and undocumented immigrants in particular, are committing widespread voter fraud in the U.S., despite every major study into the claim finding that such fraud is extremely rare. He is currently pushing for the SAVE America Act in Congress, which would hugely alter the documentation requirements for voting, and has not officially stated that he plans to deploy ICE and CBP agents to polling places, but fears remain that he is keeping the plan in mind should his other efforts to influence the midterms fail.

Speaking on the matter during a CNN segment on Wednesday with host Dana Bash, correspondent Gabe Cohen explained why such a deployment of federal forces would be illegal and what experts have told him about the likelihood that the plan will succeed in court.

"What federal law says — and that's 18 U.S. Code, section 592 ... that armed federal officers or the military are not allowed at any location where an election is happening unless such force be necessary to repel armed enemies of the United States," Cohen explained. "So that's what the federal law says. Now, could the president and the administration argue that, well, there is a threat, whether it's foreign interference, whether it's the idea of non-citizens voting, or whatever evidence that they've obtained over time, is it gangs, drugs? Could there be that emergency?"

He continued: "Well, the state election officials I've talked to, the voting rights attorneys I've talked to, say that would never hold up in court... That would be struck down. There would be repercussions, but it could create some chaos, obviously, along the way, especially given what we have seen with ICE in recent months."

Cohen stressed that while the administration has not confirmed such plans, certain officials, when pressed further, have never denied that they would be employed.

He also responded to the critiques some Republicans have made, wondering why Democrats are concerned about immigration officers being present at polling locations if, as they have argued, non-citizens are not actually showing up at them to vote. As Cohen argued, the presence of these agents could be seen as intimidation for all voters, given how often these agents have gone after lawful U.S. citizens.

"First off, I would say it's not just Democrats who are worried about that," Cohen said. "But beyond that, beyond the federal law issues here, there are also concerns that this could be seen as voter suppression or voter intimidation. Just look at what happened in Minneapolis when officers were clashing with not just undocumented migrants, but also U.S. citizens. Citizens who were out in the streets, where some U.S. citizens were detained, some were injured. A couple were even killed."

He continued: "And so even though most of the state officials I've talked to or voting rights attorneys I've talked to, have said this feels unlikely, they're still preparing. They're preparing swift legal arguments in case there is a deployment, and they need an emergency order. They're preparing local law enforcement on how to address potential federal overreach. And then, of course, preparing poll workers for if officers do show up."

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