Trump's Friend Urges Him To Declare "National Emergency" Ahead Of Midterms

A childhood friend of Donald Trump has urged the US president to declare a national emergency before the upcoming midterm elections. Peter Ticktin, a longtime lawyer, claimed that the Democrats could manipulate the vote to regain control of Congress.

"We were very close. In fact, you could say we were best friends in our senior year of high school," Ticktin said of Trump, according to CNN.

Ticktin, an 80-year-old Florida-based attorney who says he has been friends with Trump since their days at the New York Military Academy, believes there could be foreign intelligence through electronic voting machines.

"With the evidence that we've got, and with the evidence that would be forthcoming, that there'll be no question about it — and what these machines did. It's a surreptitious overtaking of a country," Ticktin told CNN.

A US intelligence report released in 2021 found that countries such as Russia, China, Iran and Venezuela tried to influence the election through online campaigns and misinformation. Some were seen as favouring Trump, while others were believed to be working against him. 

Even six years after the 2020 US presidential election, no public evidence has emerged to prove that the election was stolen from Trump, despite repeated claims by Trump and his allies, including Peter Ticktin.

Last year, Ticktin helped draft a proposed executive order that called on Trump to declare a national emergency over alleged foreign interference in the 2020 election. 

The proposal argues that Trump should use emergency powers to introduce major changes to how elections are conducted, including limiting most mail-in voting and banning the use of electronic voting machines.

According to Ticktin, if Democrats win enough seats in Congress, they could try to impeach both President Trump and Vice President JD Vance. He claims this would allow House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to become president.

Ticktin has become a well-known figure among those who continue to question the results of the 2020 US presidential election. He has represented several high-profile election deniers, including former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, who was recently released from prison after receiving clemency from Trump.

Trump has repeatedly called for stricter voter identification laws and has backed the SAVE America Act. Earlier this year, Trump signed an executive order aimed at tightening rules around mail-in voting.