US PRESIDENT Donald Trump has signalled his willingness to steal the November midterm elections, calling on his Republican Party to “nationalise” voting processes in at least 15 key areas.

Mr Trump insisted on Monday that the measure was necessary to address what he described as “crooked” electoral practices.

Speaking on a podcast hosted by former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) deputy director Dan Bongino, the increasingly authoritarian president also repeated his unsubstantiated claim that Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election was a fraud.

He claimed that the allegedly fraudulent votes had been cast by immigrants.

Mr Trump told the show: “These people were brought to our country to vote and they vote illegally. And you know, amazing that the Republicans aren’t tougher on it.

“The Republicans should say, we want to take it over. We should take over the voting, the voting in at least 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalise the voting.”

Mr Trump gave no specific details of what he intended, but he accused some states, without evidence, of being “crooked” in their vote counting.

The Republican party trails in polls for the midterm elections. A recent survey by Trump-supporting Fox News shows the Democrats with a 52 per cent to 46 per cent lead over the Republicans.

In a special election for the Tarrant County seat in the Texas state senate, occupied by the Republicans for decades, Democrat Taylor Rehmet, a trade unionist and air force veteran, defeated Trump-endorsed candidate Leigh Wambsganss by a margin of more than 14 per cent.

Mr Trump distanced himself from Sunday’s result and has recently appeared to lower expectations of a Republican victory in the federal midterm elections. 

He told the Will Cain show on January 27: “Presidents, whether it’s Republican or Democrat, when they win, it doesn’t make any difference. They seem to lose the midterms.”

Nonetheless Democratic Senator Chris Murphy warned CNN on January 26 that “Donald Trump has made it clear that he intends to try to interfere in the upcoming 2026 election.

“He says that his one regret from 2020 was that he didn’t take the voting machines.”

The president has encouraged Republicans in the House of Representatives to include a voting Bill in the funding package currently going through Congress.

Some allies of Mr Trump have demanded that the package include legislation requiring voters to show proof of citizenship.