These days, the authors are frequently asked whether President Trump will be entering an Executive Order Declaring that there is an Election Emergency. It seems that few are aware that the President already did this. In his first term, on September 12, 2018, President Trump signed an Executive Order pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) “to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the threat of foreign interference in or undermining public confidence in United States elections.” Last week, on August 31, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order which extended the 2018 Executive Order: “Continuation of the National Emergency with Respect to Foreign Interference in or Undermining Public Confidence in the United States Elections.” It reads in part:
Foreign powers have historically sought to exploit America’s free and open political system. In recent years, the proliferation of digital devices and internet-based communications has created significant vulnerabilities and magnified the scope and intensity of the threat of foreign interference. The ability of persons located, in whole or in substantial part, outside the United States to interfere in or undermine public confidence in United States elections, including through the unauthorized accessing of election and campaign infrastructure or the covert distribution of propaganda and disinformation, continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States. For this reason, the national emergency declared on September 12, 2018, must continue in effect beyond September 12, 2026. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13848 with respect to the threat of foreign interference in or undermining public confidence in United States elections.
