Trump, China, Lies: The 17-Page “Emergency” That Shows What Panic Looks Like at the Presidential Level
Trump, China, Lies: The 17-Page “Emergency” That Shows What Panic Looks Like at the Presidential Level
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #796: Thursday, February 26th, 2026.
A “draft executive order” is floating around MAGA world right now…17 pages long…and the people circulating it claim they’re in coordination with the White House.
The pitch is simple, and it’s poison:
Assert China interfered in the 2020 election, declare a national emergency…and use that emergency to unlock extraordinary presidential power over how Americans vote.
If you’re wondering what desperation looks like at the presidential level…it looks like this:
Try to manufacture an “emergency” so you can seize powers you don’t legally have …and aim them directly at the machinery of elections.
What the draft is trying to do
According to The Washington Post, the activists pushing this order believe an “emergency” could empower the president to ban mail ballots and even ban voting machines…claiming those are “vectors” of foreign interference.
And here’s the tell:
This isn’t coming from a government process with safeguards and accountability. It’s coming from outside advocates…including a lawyer promoting the draft (Peter Ticktin), who says he’s had “certain coordination” with White House officials…while the White House offers non-denial denials about being in regular contact with outside advocates.
This is how power grabs are beta-tested in public:
Float the balloon, watch who salutes, then claim inevitability.
The Constitution problem they’re trying to bulldoze
The scheme runs face-first into a basic constitutional reality: election administration is not the president’s lane.
Article I, Section 4 assigns the regulation of federal elections to state legislatures and Congress…not the Oval Office.
So the “emergency” isn’t just a policy idea. It’s a workaround. A hack. A legal costume meant to make something unconstitutional feel “necessary.”
That’s why this is so dangerous:
Emergencies are the oldest trick in the book. Not because they’re always fake…but because they’re the easiest doorway to extraordinary power…and once that door is open, it doesn’t politely close.
The China claim is the accelerant, not the engine
The draft reportedly leans on the claim that China interfered in the 2020 election, and uses that claim as justification for a national emergency.
But…here’s what the U.S. intelligence community previously said about this exact idea:
A 2021 intelligence review concluded that China considered efforts to influence the 2020 election but did not go through with them.
So why push the China narrative anyway?
Because it does three things at once:
It turns a political goal into a national security story.
It makes dissent feel disloyal.
It creates permission for “wartime” tools in peacetime politics.
That is the architecture of a manufactured crisis.
This is not theory; it’s a pattern, escalating
The Post notes Trump has repeatedly previewed plans like requiring voter ID and banning mail ballots…and that activists expect the draft to figure into a promised executive order on elections.
And a crucial detail:
This wouldn’t be the first attempt to use executive action to reshape election rules.
The Post reports Trump signed an executive order in March that included requirements around proof of citizenship on registration forms and penalties tied to mail ballots — and courts blocked parts of that order in multiple cases.
So what happens when courts block you?
If you’re operating like a normal president…you adjust and legislate.
If you’re operating like a desperate one…you go hunting for the biggest lever available:
Emergency power.
That’s the escalation ladder.
The real target: public confidence-and control
Notice what this draft is really about. Not “security.” Not “confidence.” Not “integrity.”
It’s about control over voting methods…mail ballots…machines…federal authority inserted into state-run systems…using the language of foreign interference as the moral cover.
And…that’s why even if this specific draft never becomes a signed order…it still matters.
Because it’s an admission of intent:
They are actively shopping for a theory that lets the president override the normal constitutional balance around elections.
A statement from Sen. Mark Warner responding to the reporting put it plainly:
This is “a plot to interfere with the will of voters and undermine both the rule of law and public confidence in our elections.”
I don’t always agree with politicians’ phrasing.
But…I recognize the underlying risk:
If you can convince millions of people that elections are illegitimate…you can justify almost anything to “fix” them.
Here’s the chilling part: “Emergency” language already exists-and it can be misused
The activists reportedly point to prior precedent:
A 2018 executive order that declared a national emergency to impose sanctions on foreign entities targeting election infrastructure…and that emergency was extended and used for sanctions later.
That’s the legal judo move:
Take a legitimate tool (sanctioning foreign interference) and twist it into a domestic power grab (federal control over voting practices).
It’s the difference between:
Punishing foreign actors, and
Punishing American voters with restrictions justified by foreign actors.
One is defense. The other is domination.
Pause and do this one thing
Open a notes app and answer this honestly:
If any president…any party…could declare an “election emergency” and then unilaterally ban voting methods…would we still have elections… or would we have permission slips?
Drop your answer in the comments. Short is fine. One sentence is fine. But say it out loud.
The threat is bigger than Trump. The threat is the precedent.
This is the part most people miss.
Even if you believe this draft is too wild to survive court review…its mere circulation signals something profound: they’re stress-testing the boundary between democratic procedure and raw executive will.
And…once that boundary is tested enough times…it stops feeling like a boundary.
That’s how a country slides into a place where “emergency” becomes the normal form of governance…and elections become a managed ritual…not a genuine check on power.
Final thought
Desperation isn’t just emotional.
In politics, desperation becomes a strategy:
Manufacture a crisis…seize the levers…call it protection…and dare everyone else to stop you.
This isn’t a drill. It’s a blueprint being passed hand to hand.
And the only thing that reliably kills a blueprint like this is sunlight.
If you’re reading in email, tap “View in app” and leave a comment with the one line you’d want every American to understand about this. That’s your tiny act of resistance to normalization.
Tonight for Paid Subscribers
Later tonight, I’m publishing something I won’t put in front of the general list.
For paid subscribers, I’ll break down:
The specific legal mechanisms an “election emergency” could trigger
How national emergency powers have expanded quietly over decades
What would actually have to happen inside DOJ and DHS for this to move
The pressure points…courts, states, Congress…and where this could snap
The realistic scenarios: bluster, partial attempt, or full constitutional collision
If you’re already a paid subscriber, watch your inbox.
If you’re not, this is one of those moments where understanding the mechanics matters more than the headline.
#HoldFast
Back soon.
-Jack
Jack Hopkins
No surprise from me. I've been telling people this for months. Trump's intention is to prevent the election in any way he can. It's up to us to stop him.
They will try whatever they think will work because if he can’t stop free and fair midterms, impeachment follows. He is very dangerous.