President Donald Trump called for Republicans to get a national voter ID law passed ahead of the midterm elections, saying that he would take executive action if Congress could not get it done.

Trump’s call comes after the SAVE America Act requiring photo identification and proof of citizenship to vote in elections passed the House on Wednesday and headed to the Senate.

“We cannot let the Democrats get away with NO VOTER I.D. any longer. These are horrible, disingenuous CHEATERS. They have all sorts of reasons why it shouldn’t be passed, and then boldly laugh in the backrooms after their ridiculous presentations,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Friday. “If it weren’t such a serious matter, it would be considered a TOTAL JOKE! No Voter I.D. is even crazier, and more ridiculous, than Men playing in Women’s Sports, Open Borders, or Transgender for Everyone.”

Trump said Republicans should be talking about the issue in every speech, pointing to polling that most Americans support voter ID laws.

“This is an issue that must be fought, and must be fought, NOW!” Trump said. “If we can’t get it through Congress, there are Legal reasons why this SCAM is not permitted. I will be presenting them shortly, in the form of an Executive Order.”

Trump said that if Democrats took back power, they would move to make Washington, D.C.,  and Puerto Rico states, pack the Supreme Court, and remove the filibuster in the Senate.

“Our Country will never be the same if they allow these demented and evil people to knowingly, and happily, destroy it,” Trump said.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, “Thirty-six states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. The remaining 14 states and Washington, D.C., use other methods to verify the identity of voters. Most frequently, other identifying information provided at the polling place, such as a signature, is checked against information on file.”

After the House passed the SAVE America Act on Wednesday, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) has been pushing for it to move forward in the Senate. He has already picked up 49 Republican co-sponsors of the legislation and got commitment to support the bill from Senator Susan Collins (R-ME).

In a video posted to social media, Lee said that Republicans in the Senate should now move forward to debate and force Democrats to use the “talking filibuster” instead of the “zombie filibuster.”

Polling released by Cygnal this week found that 72% of white voters, 69% of Hispanic voters, and 56% of black voters support requiring identification at the polls.

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump released a plan on Friday to expand American shipbuilding, ease regulations on commercial carriers, and boost domestic maritime jobs.

The plan represents what the White House called “the first holistic approach” to strengthening the maritime industry in the United States and streamlining government procurement, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly told reporters on Friday morning.

The White House said the initiative would involve “hundreds of billions of dollars” in new investments, fulfilling Trump’s promise “to build ships in America.”

Kelly argued that America’s “strategic position and shipbuilding industrial capacity” has been weakened over the decades due to unnecessary regulatory burdens and a lack of sustained policy focus.

Kelly also accused foreign competitors of using unfair trade practices to expand their shipbuilding industries.

The White House described Trump as the first president in decades to elevate “American maritime dominance” as a priority, pointing to the newly released plan.

Workers construct a grand block of the National Security Multi-Mission Vessel Five (NSMV V), a training platform for state maritime academies, in the grand block shop at the Hanwha Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. Photographer: Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

“He has done more than anyone to revitalize this vital sector for our national security,” Kelly said, citing his April 2025 executive order directing his team to craft a maritime action plan.

The plan calls for strengthening maritime supply chains, developing a strategy to secure Arctic waterways, expanding the fleet of American-built and American-flagged commercial vessels, and recapitalizing government-owned sealift ships.

Kelly said the plan would improve coordination among federal agencies involved in ship procurement. She added that it would expand government programs, encourage private investment in domestic shipbuilding, and pursue deregulation.

A copy of the plan indicates that the proposal is structured around four key pillars: expanding domestic shipbuilding capacity, reforming maritime workforce education and training, protecting the industrial base from foreign competition, and strengthening national security.

The document concludes by projecting that the plan will “reestablish America’s position as a global maritime power,” thereby strengthening national security and economic prosperity.