Former Trump official warns another attempted coup may be coming

Supporters in the audience cheer as US President Donald Trump walks after his address at a rally at Butler High School in Vandalia, Ohio, US, October 3, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard

On Monday, an official from President Donald Trump’s first administration warned that another coup attempt may be on the way. This is according to former Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews, who told USA Today that Trump is ready to take extreme action to ensure the midterms go his way.

“The last time he lost an election he incited an insurrection so I don’t think that he deserves the benefit of the doubt on anything,” said Matthews. "I wouldn't put anything past him in terms of what he will do between now and Election Day to try to interfere, and what he will do in the aftermath."

Matthews’ warning that Trump could attempt another January 6th insurrection or some other form of radical election interference comes as the president takes a series of what USA Today calls “extraordinary” and “unprecedented” steps to attempt to stave off the projected Republican midterm losses. These have so far included taxpayer-funded, campaign-style ads promoting Trump, government checks for targeted groups, federal agents combing through voter rolls and a promise to send every adult a check for $5,000 – if the GOP retains both chambers of Congress.

“The president's approach represents a significant departure from the norms around elections… one that experts worry is undermining the democratic system,” explains USA Today. “Prominent Trump supporters have floated everything from sending Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to the polls to declaring a national security emergency in the final weeks of the election, as the president continues to stoke unfounded concerns about widespread fraud. Trump didn't rule out either scenario in a Sept. 28 interview with Time magazine, or the possibility of invoking the Insurrection Act, which allows the president to deploy the military on U.S. soil to suppress civil disturbances.”

Fears that Trump could take drastic anti-democratic action have been exacerbated by his apparent growing desperation to retain Republican congressional majorities. “We have to turn this around,” Trump said last week. “For some reason presidents, Democrat or Republican, they just don’t win the midterms. I don’t know why.” While he is correct that midterms often see voters push back against the party in power, what Trump didn’t mention is how his policies have contributed to what polls show could be historic losses for Republicans. As USA Today explains, “Trump has added to the GOP's midterm woes with an unpopular war in Iran that has spiked energy prices and contributed to an overall increase in inflation as voters indicate cost of living is a top concern. His approval rating - which has hit a record low in recent polls - is threatening to drag down GOP candidates.” As a result, Trump has attempted to resurrect his 2020 voter fraud claims, at the same time pushing his own electorate to take illegal action. “Cheat like hell,” he told his voters at the Republican Midterm Convention last month, couching the demand by adding, “like they do,” in reference to his election denial conspiracies.

But according to USA Today, “Democrats and voting rights groups say Trump is the one trying to ‘rig’ the election.” Most of his efforts have been blocked in court, but according to Harvard University government professor Steven Levitsky, co-author of the book How Democracies Die, "Trump has emptied out the tool shed looking for tools to manipulate the election.” And as USA Today explains, with many of the president’s allies calling for martial law and the posting of federal agents at polling places, Trump has done little to quell concerns that he could take such action. "I don't rule anything out or in. We'll see," Trump said in a recent interview when asked about declaring a national emergency, adding that he's never invoked the Insurrection Act but "I could use it. A lot of people think I should use it sometimes."

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