Trump's MAGA allies openly discuss martial law

MAGA activists are pushing for President Trump to resort to extraordinary measures — including martial law — if they believe the midterm elections are "rigged." Why it matters: Some of the proposals go far beyond Trump's legal authority — and there's no evidence that the elections will be rigged.

But people in this orbit have close access to the president.

Prominent MAGA election activist Tina Peters met with Trump this month.

Convicted in 2024 of crimes tied to a breach of election equipment, Peters was released this year after Colorado Gov.

Jared Polis (D) commuted her sentence.

Peters and her attorney, Peter Ticktin, also visited Trump at the White House in late June .

Peters did not respond to attempts to contact her for comment.

Zoom in: On a September 30 video call for MAGA election activists streamed on Rumble, speakers warned of widespread election security breaches they believe will occur in November — and urgently pushed for remedies.

Ticktin, Trump's childhood friend, said on the call "there would have to be martial law in the event... [of] another rigged election." "They'll probably need to be commandeering of ballots and election equipment to make sure that we can get to the bottom of it before anything further occurs," he later told Axios.

Gregory Stenstrom, who testified about alleged voting irregularities in Pennsylvania in 2020, said he most wanted the election paused over security concerns.

Alternatively, he proposed Trump invoke the National Emergencies Act to force states to change how they run elections.

Stenstrom could not be reached for comment.

Peters was also on the call.

She's been promoting her own plan online since August, which calls for switching to hand-marked paper ballots and a manual recount of all votes where feasible.