Democratic strategist James Carville warned Americans Tuesday that Donald Trump might try to declare martial law and even rig the midterm elections.
During a Q&A segment on his Politics War Room podcast, Carville said people were right to be worried about Trump’s authoritarian tendencies. Listeners asked if there was a risk that Trump could halt the U.S. democratic process. “Is Trump looking to spark enough protest to justify declaring martial law in 2026 thus suspending the election?” asked one.
“You’re so correct to be concerned about this,” Carville said. “They deserve a serious answer. And a serious answer is not necessarily an encouraging answer.”
He said the threat of Trump disregarding election laws was very real. “It’s getting worse by the day. It is not going to stop getting worse. And I would be—we ought to be—on high, high alert,” he said.
Last month, the president claimed he wasn’t joking about an unconstitutional third term in office.
“I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Trump does not like the United States,” Carville said. “He doesn’t like our laws, he does not like our Constitution.”
Carville said that if Trump is “going down,” he’ll take the country with him.
“He is not loyal to the United States of America. He does not like this country. He criticizes it all the time. He has affection for dictators. He has an affection for authoritarianism,” he said.
“I’ve said, and yet, continue to believe even stronger every day—we’re in the midst of a collapse,” said Carville, who rose to prominence after being a lead strategist in Bill Clinton’s winning 1992 presidential campaign.
Carville continued: “He’s gonna try anything he can and to help himself, of course, I believe the man genuinely wants to hurt the country.”
Trump allies, including his former chief strategist Steve Bannon, have suggested that Trump should be able to run again since his two terms in the White House were not consecutive.
The president told NBC News March 30 that “there are methods” to get around the constitutional limit.
“I wish we could have him for 20 years as our president,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Fox News Sunday. “But I think he’s going to be finished, probably, after this.”
When asked why she used “probably,” Bondi simply said it would be a “heavy lift” to overhaul the Constitution.
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