--- title: Donald Trump: White House Prepares Probe on Voter Fraud description: President Trump asked aides to prepare an executive action for his signature as soon as Thursday to order an investigation into voter fraud. canonical: https://time.com/4649348/donald-trump-voter-fraud-executive-action/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-25T21:45:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:56:54.924Z article:section: Politics og:title: White House Prepares Probe Into Voter Fraud og:description: Executive action could be signed as soon as Thursday. og:url: https://time.com/4649348/donald-trump-voter-fraud-executive-action/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt728300ef153bf66e/6988b5b9bc6cfc3aa23dfcdb/gettyimages-618787688.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-ELECTIONS og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: White House Prepares Probe Into Voter Fraud twitter:description: Executive action could be signed as soon as Thursday. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt728300ef153bf66e/6988b5b9bc6cfc3aa23dfcdb/gettyimages-618787688.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # White House Prepares Executive Action to Probe Voter Fraud Claims > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=2016f14b-8e61-4e69-82dc-8323d1153ed8&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 25, 2017 9:45 PM UTC  Voting booths are seen at the Potomac Community Recreation Center during early voting on October 28, 2016 in Potomac, Maryland. / AFP / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) Voting booths are seen at the Potomac Community Recreation Center during early voting on October 28, 2016 in Potomac, Maryland. / AFP / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images) BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Jan 25, 2017 9:45 PM UTC President Donald Trump has asked aides to prepare an executive action for his signature as soon as Thursday to order an investigation into voter fraud, two senior administration officials said Wednesday. The announcement is set to follow Trump’s [public call for a probe](http://time.com/4648352/president-donald-trump-voter-fraud-investigation/) in a pair of tweets Wednesday morning, and follows the White House confirming [that the president still believes](http://time.com/4645828/white-house-voter-fraud-donald-trump-belief/), [without specific evidence](http://time.com/4648581/donald-trump-election-investigation/), that 3 to 5 million votes were cast illegally in 2016 election, [depriving him of a popular vote victory](http://time.com/4608555/hillary-clinton-popular-vote-final/). Trump has made the claim since the election, and [brought it up at a reception with congressional leadership](http://time.com/4644738/donald-trump-falsehood-popular-vote/) Monday evening. On Tuesday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer reaffirmed the president’s belief in the alleged fraud. “He continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him,” he said. But independent experts, congressional leaders of both parties, and Secretaries of State nationwide have affirmed there were no widespread instances of fraud in the last election. **Read More:** [_President Trump Keeps Alleging Massive Voter Fraud. Here’s Why He’s Wrong_](http://time.com/4648581/donald-trump-election-investigation/) On Wednesday, Spicer stopped short of calling it a task force, but suggested the investigation would involve a range of people, and look beyond just the 2016 election to reviewing voter identification requirements and voter roll laws nationwide. “Part of that is to figure out the extent of the problem,” Spicer said. “In some states, what it takes to get a driver’s license might be an issue. But I think we have to understand where the problem exists; how deep it goes; and then suggest some remedies to it.” Trump’s electoral win bought him to the White House, but the president has repeatedly complained about losing the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes, or 2.1 percent of votes cast. Spicer told reporters that the investigation would be focused on the larger, Democratic-leaning states that were not electoral battlegrounds in 2016. “A lot of these issues could have occurred in bigger states, that’s where I think we’re going to look,” Spicer said. The officials cautioned that the Thursday signing was the president’s intended timetable, and that it could slip as the formal language of the order is still being worked on. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/824227824903090176) > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/824228768227217408) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4649348/donald-trump-voter-fraud-executive-action/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4649348/donald-trump-voter-fraud-executive-action/"},"headline":"White House Prepares Executive Action to Probe Voter Fraud Claims","datePublished":"2017-01-25T21:45:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:56:54.924Z","description":"Despite lack of evidence","url":"https://time.com/4649348/donald-trump-voter-fraud-executive-action/","keywords":["Donald Trump","California","White House","New York","Voting"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt728300ef153bf66e/6988b5b9bc6cfc3aa23dfcdb/gettyimages-618787688.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt728300ef153bf66e/6988b5b9bc6cfc3aa23dfcdb/gettyimages-618787688.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-VOTE-ELECTIONS","caption":"US-VOTE-ELECTIONS","creditText":"BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4649348/donald-trump-voter-fraud-executive-action/","name":"White House Prepares Executive Action to Probe Voter Fraud Claims"}}]}] ```