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Trump Makes Outlandish Election Safety Claims

July 16, 2026 at 11:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump made at times outlandish claims about the safety of American voting systems in a White House address on Thursday night, drawing selectively from documents his aides published online to insinuate that U.S. elections have been compromised for years and that government officials had suppressed the evidence,” the New York Times reports.

”Mr. Trump, who has in recent months increasingly pressed his yearslong and unsubstantiated argument that the outcomes of U.S. elections have been ‘rigged’ by various forces, also laid out a purported effort by the Chinese government to undermine him in 2019. But the documents posted by the White House, although heavily redacted, were far more guarded in their conclusions.”

Trump Speaks from the White House

July 16, 2026 at 8:50 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump is expected to deliver remarks tonight on “fair elections” and election security, though he may range into other topics.

The speech is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET.

Share your reactions in the comments.

The Last Gasp of the GOP Majority?

July 16, 2026 at 7:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Punchbowl News: “Top Republicans spent two weeks unable to pass a rule because of hardline conservative discontent with the GOP agenda. Speaker Mike Johnson was twice forced to send members home early due to the floor freeze.”

“This week, Johnson and the GOP leaders finally got a rule approved. But earlier today, Republicans again fell flat and were forced to yank the Take Care of America’s Veterans Act from the floor because of GOP opposition.”

“The opposition was so staunch that three Republicans — Reps. Max Miller (Ohio), Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.) and Jeff Van Drew (N.J.) — sided with Democrats on the minority’s procedural motion to send the bill back to committee. That’s practically unheard of in the House.”

“All of this evidence leads us to an obvious question: How will House Republicans fare next week?”

Republicans Are Dreading Trump’s Speech

July 16, 2026 at 7:14 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Magazine: “Trump intends to talk a lot about the 2020 election in his ‘address to the nation’ tonight, according to multiple reports. And that has Republicans ‘scared shitless,’ according to Politico. Rants about 2020 around the White House or even at MAGA rallies are one thing. But as part of a nationally televised White House address, election denialism will become impossible to deny, deflect, or dismiss.”

”We are told he may offer fresh claims of newly discovered foreign-government interference with the election that ejected him from power. But unless there’s a smoking gun, it will sound just like the endlessly debunked allegations that led to Trump’s absolute low point on January 6. That he wants to go there yet again and take the whole country with him is remarkable.”

Quote of the Day

July 16, 2026 at 6:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“If the president declares Georgia’s elections illegitimate, or if the president declares Georgia’s sitting United States senators illegitimate, he is declaring Georgia voters illegitimate. It’s Donald Trump who tried to defraud Georgia voters in that election.”

— Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), quoted by ABC News.

USA Today: Ossoff on Trump 2020 election speech: “World’s most famous sore loser.”

Senate Opposes Pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried

July 16, 2026 at 6:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Senate unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday declaring that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should not receive a pardon,” The Hill reports.

“Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison on fraud charges tied to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, officially requested a pardon from the Trump administration in early June.”

ABC and NBC Will Not Air Trump’s Speech

July 16, 2026 at 6:08 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump is delivering a prime-time address on Thursday, but where the speech will air live on traditional television remains an open question,” the New York Times reports.

“Neither ABC nor NBC is planning to pre-empt regularly scheduled entertainment programming at 9 p.m. when Mr. Trump speaks. Fox News, which airs ‘Hannity’ during that time slot, has not said if it will broadcast the president’s address.”

“CBS, CNN and MS NOW did not respond to inquiries about their programming plans for Thursday evening.”

“The uncertainty is a direct result of the potential for Mr. Trump’s speech to become partisan or incendiary.”

Hollywood Reporter: NBC and ABC won’t carry Trump primetime election speech.

What to Expect from Trump’s Speech Tonight

July 16, 2026 at 6:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rick Hasen: “Trump has promised ‘really really big news’ in his speech. But talk is cheap, and from Trump on elections, usually unmoored to reality or evidence.”

CNN: Advisers debate how much to declassify and reveal in Trump’s primetime election speech.

Trump Fires New Prosecutor in Seattle Within Minutes

July 16, 2026 at 5:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump fired the new top U.S. prosecutor in Seattle on Wednesday less than an hour after the attorney was unanimously appointed by the federal judges in the district, highlighting tensions between the courts and the president over the powerful positions,” the Associated Press reports.

Democrats Secretly Meet on Trump’s Midterm Meddling

July 16, 2026 at 5:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“They won’t say who attended. They won’t say where it happened. They won’t even say — on the record — what day it took place,” MS NOW reports.

“What House Democrats are willing to acknowledge is that more than two dozen lawmakers gathered this week for a closed-door strategy session to game out how they would respond if President Donald Trump or his administration sought to interfere with this year’s midterm elections.”

Earlier for members: Why I’m Not Worried About Trump Stealing the Midterms

Trump Media Plans to Sell Quicker Access to Trump’s Posts

July 16, 2026 at 4:10 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Trump Media and Technology Group, the company behind President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform, announced Thursday it’s launching a service that will sell faster access to posts on the site — including Trump’s regular markets-moving diatribes,” NOTUS reports.

“A spokesperson for Trump Media told Reuters that the application, called Truth API, will give paying users access to posts from the 10 most influential accounts at a faster pace than normal Truth Social push notifications. Trump is by far the most followed account on the platform, with 12.9 million followers.”

Ruben Gallego Had Affairs with Two House Aides

July 16, 2026 at 3:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), a potential 2028 presidential candidate, engaged in sexual relationships with at least two House staffers and his ‘very flirtatious’ habits with others may come back to haunt him,” the New York Post reports.

Fox News: Schumer dodges questions after bombshell report alleges Democratic senator had relationships with House staffers.

Georgia’s Senators Ridicule Trump’s Election Fraud Claims

July 16, 2026 at 3:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Georgia’s two Democratic senators didn’t wait for President Trump to try to undermine their legitimacy with false claims about their crucial election victories in 2020 that propelled Democrats to the Senate majority,” the New York Times reports.

“In interviews and social media posts, Senators Raphael Warnock and John Ossoff have aggressively countered a potential presidential claim that they did not win their seats fairly.”

“They acted after reports that the president would use a speech scheduled for Thursday evening to take aim at them, alleging widespread fraud in Georgia voting six years ago despite multiple inquiries that produced no evidence of wrongdoing.”

GOP Candidate Has Close Ties to White Nationalist

July 16, 2026 at 3:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Mike Collins (R) “has built a national profile as a combative, Trump-aligned online provocateur — a style that has repeatedly drawn scrutiny over his associations with far-right figures, inflammatory social media posts and accusations of antisemitism, which he has denied,” CNN reports.

“Now, one of the starkest examples of extremism in the Georgia congressman’s orbit appears much closer to home: his son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II, a pro-White nationalist and social media influencer with a track record of sharing antisemitic material and Nazi imagery in comments across the internet.”

Senate GOP Isn’t Sold On Mike Johnson’s Budget Blueprint

July 16, 2026 at 3:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Senate Republicans are pouring cold water on the House GOP’s $95 billion blueprint for a new party-line spending package,” Politico reports.

“Their skepticism is a reality check on Speaker Mike Johnson’s ambitious pledge that the Senate will adopt a budget resolution before leaving in early August.”

Warren Seeks Trump Crypto Disclosures

July 16, 2026 at 3:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is asking President Donald Trump for an additional six months of disclosures on his crypto holdings following revelations in a June filing that the president and his family earned some $1.4 billion from digital currencies in 2025,” NBC News reports.

“In a letter sent Thursday, Warren said the information covering the president’s crypto earnings for the first half of 2026 is needed because pending legislation could further enhance the president’s crypto fortune, creating what she said would be a conflict of interest.”

The Guardian: Trump made $1.4bn from crypto in one year. Is Justin Sun the man that helped him do it?

House Republicans Flame Out on the Floor Again

July 16, 2026 at 2:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Punchbowl News: “House Republican leaders had to pull a veterans benefit bill after a prolonged arm-twisting session on the House floor on Thursday.”

“Four Republicans — Reps. Max Miller (Ohio), Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), Jeff Van Drew (N.J.) and Victoria Spartz (Ind.) — voted with Democrats to recommit the bill to committee, a move that would’ve let the minority win a major procedural vote. GOP leaders were able to flip Spartz — they’re always able to do that — to win the procedural vote, but then they yanked the bill.”

“The effort to flip Republican holdouts got heated. Luna was asked to come into the speaker’s ceremonial office off the House floor with Speaker Mike Johnson and a number of other Republicans, according to multiple sources in the room.”

Trump Approval Stuck in the 30s

July 16, 2026 at 2:03 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Washington Post: “Strikingly, Trump has lost enthusiasm among many fellow Republicans, a core source of his power for more than a decade. Reduced enthusiasm among those base supporters jeopardizes his party’s hopes of retaining control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.”

“Trump’s inability to shake these negative perceptions of his presidency within the broader public — especially on the economy and the war in Iran — further clouds prospects for Republicans this fall. Republican majorities in the House and Senate are both at risk, and a Democratic takeover of either chamber or both would hamper the president and dramatically change the governing dynamics in the capital for the last two years of Trump’s term.”

“Trump’s overall approval rating stands at 37 percent, identical to what it was in April. His disapproval is 61 percent, statistically unchanged from the previous poll. Among registered voters, Trump’s approval is 40 percent, little different than in the spring.”

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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