Intending to Steal

Summary

Heather Cox Richardson argues that the Trump administration is using federal power and legal challenges to help Republicans retain control of the Senate in the 2026 midterms, while also promoting Trump’s popularity.

• Social Security claims: Social Security Administration Commissioner Frank Bisignano emailed account holders praising the agency’s performance under Trump. Richardson contrasts that message with reports that staffing cuts have delayed services and made in-person appointments harder to obtain. She also notes that reported declines in phone wait times count callers who accept a callback as having waited zero minutes.
• Pressure on election officials: A federal judge in California ordered the Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security to stop threatening state and local election officials with prosecution. The judge said the agencies had exceeded their authority because states administer congressional elections, and warned that the threats could intimidate officials and interfere with voters’ rights.
• Alaska election litigation: The administration sought to prevent Alaska from certifying any Senate winner other than Republican Dan Sullivan, citing the presence of another candidate named Daniel J. Sullivan on the ballot. A federal judge dismissed the case, finding that the administration had not offered a workable way to separate and investigate those ballots while preserving voter secrecy. The administration said it would appeal.

Richardson notes that Alaska uses ranked-choice voting and that Democrats have also sued over the apparent failure to open at least 18 early-voting locations, a problem that could particularly affect Native Alaskans. Alaska officials argued that states—not the federal government—control elections. Sullivan said he would accept the election results.

• Trump’s public image and priorities: Richardson contrasts Trump’s lavish, jungle-themed Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago with Americans’ struggles amid rising fuel prices, which she links to the war in Iran, and unfavorable polling on his economic management. She also recounts a report that Trump wanted former lawyer Alina Habba to direct part of an alleged $50 million payout toward one of his projects, such as his presidential library.
• Nvidia and China: Trump acknowledged reports that a Chinese national allegedly sought information from Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang about advanced AI chips. Although Trump had reportedly been briefed about the matter earlier, the account says he took no action amid concerns about disrupting Nvidia sales or complicating trade with China. Trump said he respected Huang and would look into the issue.
• Political implications: Richardson says early turnout appeared to favor Democrats and that some Republicans were distancing themselves from Trump. She presents the Alaska lawsuit and threats to election officials as evidence of an effort to influence election outcomes, while noting that state officials and Sullivan himself rejected the idea that results should be accepted only if Republicans win.

Presenter and Contributors

• Writer and reader: Heather Cox Richardson
• Production: Soundscape Productions, Dedham, Massachusetts
• Music: Michael Moss
• Journalists whose reporting is cited: Tara Siegel Bernard, Victoria Craw, Gary Grumbach, Kyla Guilfoil, Tyler Pager, Jonathan Swan, Maggie Haberman, Anna Swanson, Paul Mozur, Trip Mickle, and Julian E. Barnes