Markwayne Mullin, the U.S. homeland security secretary, reinforced Donald Trump’s unproven claims about election irregularities on Friday, following the president’s widely criticized primetime speech on Thursday, July 16th, 2026. Trump based many of his assertions on a memo compiled by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), including the claim that “250,000 noncitizens” are registered to vote in California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Nevada.

However, election experts, such as David Becker, executive director of the non-partisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, have expressed concerns over the lack of transparency regarding the methodology used to arrive at that figure.

Democrats have accused Trump of attempting to rig the upcoming midterm elections. Trump also made unverified allegations of Chinese interference in the 2020 presidential race, despite intelligence officials’ assessments that no foreign actor, including China, altered any technical aspect of the 2020 voting process.

In addition, a move announced on Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to receive news first from top contributors on Truth Social, Trump’s social media platform, enabling them to potentially profit from subsequent market movements.

Separately, there were more than 880 active fires across Canada as of Friday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.

Sources