Officials Advise States Amid Election Interference Fears

A small group of U.S. national security officials has privately advised state governments and congressional lawmakers to prepare for the possibility that the Trump administration will try to interfere in November’s midterm elections, according to people involved in the effort.

Private preparations

The effort has reached governors, election stewards and lawmakers from both parties. The source article doesn’t identify the officials or describe the advice they gave. Nor does it specify what forms of interference they fear. It reports no action by the administration to interfere with the elections.

Public confidence

A Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll found that most Americans are confident next month’s midterm elections will be conducted fairly. Yet 7 in 10 lack confidence that President Donald Trump will accept the results if Republicans lose.

The poll finding concerns respondents’ expectations about whether Trump would accept a possible result. It doesn’t report that the election process itself is widely expected to be unfair. The article provides no further poll figures or details about how the poll was conducted.

The source reports officials’ preparations and the poll findings, but it doesn’t establish that election interference has occurred. It gives no information about a transfer of authority, effects on demographic or cultural conditions, or institutional beneficiaries. Those claims can’t be drawn from the reporting provided.

Trump took questions from the news media before departing the White House for a political rally in Kansas on Monday. On October 17, 2026, he spoke at a midterm campaign rally at Truist Arena in Highland Heights, Kentucky. The source doesn’t report that he addressed the officials’ private preparations or the poll findings at either event.

The first report was written by Noah Robertson. Patrick Marley and Scott Clement wrote the poll report. The available source material is too brief to support a 400-word article without repetition or adding facts it doesn’t provide.