Episode 230| February 26, 2026: Will Trump Cancel the Elections?

Donald Trump certainly has good reasons to cancel the elections. Will he? Can he? The Washington Post reports that he is considering declaring a national emergency to justify federalizing the midterms—which is unconstitutional—on the grounds that China stole the 2020 election on behalf of Joe Biden.

DMZ America co-hosts and colleagues Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right), who predicted the January 6th Capitol Riot and have been following Trump’s flirtations with American fascism all along, discuss why, how and whether the president may choose to end America’s 250-year experiment with representative democracy later this year.

Joining Ted and Scott to discuss is Charles Lipson. Charles is a political scientist and Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he held the Peter B. Ritzma Professorship and co-founded the Program on International Politics, Economics, and Security. He earned his undergraduate degrees in political science and economics from Yale and his Ph.D. from Harvard. Since joining Chicago in 1977, his work has focused on international relations, cooperation and conflict, and the political economy of global trade, debt, and investment. He is also a prolific columnist for outlets like RealClearPolitics and The Spectator, commenting on U.S. foreign policy and American politics.