Trump signaled he's open to declaring a national emergency to seize federal control over elections before the midterms — an alarming sign for anyone worried about democratic norms.

• On a friendly talk show, a host urged Trump to declare an election emergency to force through photo ID, proof of citizenship, and limits on mail-in ballots — and Trump replied, "stranger things have happened."
• The pitch leans on a 1983 Supreme Court case, claiming such an emergency could only be undone by a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress.
• Trump has long fixated on controlling elections, earlier suggesting Republicans should "nationalize" voting in states he calls crooked.
• Likely targets would be tight-race states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Texas, where a voting crackdown could swing House and Senate seats.
• Separately, a new ProPublica report shows Trump claimed two neighboring Florida homes as his "principal residence" in 1993 — the exact mortgage move he's now using to attack Fed board member Lisa Cook, though his case is long past the statute of limitations.

Outlook: With his election law stalled in Congress, Trump appears to be signaling he has something planned — but whether states would comply, and whether it survives court challenges, remains unclear.