Donald Trump said he would respect the results of the upcoming midterm elections only if he considers them “honest,” but did not explain what he would count as an honest election.

Erin Burnett said Trump appeared to be laying the groundwork to question the 2026 results if Republicans suffer major losses, as control of the House and possibly the Senate is at stake.

Burnett cited Washington Post analysis finding that nearly 600 prominent right-wing social media accounts, podcasts and other online outlets had made more than 7,000 statements questioning election integrity so far in 2026.

She said those outlets were echoing Trump’s rhetoric and helping establish grounds to challenge results, pointing to his recent warning to “be careful of the voter fraud.”

The remarks came as the Trump administration expanded legal challenges against Democrat-led states over voting processes and election certification ahead of November 3.

In Washington, the DOJ threatened to seek emergency relief to remove about 400 people it alleges are noncitizens from voter rolls; Washington says the list relies on outdated, often inaccurate information.

California also pushed back, saying many people on a DOJ list of supposed noncitizens were eligible voters or born in the United States.

Washington had previously opposed turning over its full voter list to the DOJ, joining several other Democrat-led states resisting similar demands.

Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs defended the state’s election system, saying voting is secure and noncitizen voting is extremely rare.

The DOJ has also filed lawsuits targeting Alaska’s Senate election and California, citing alleged problems involving ballot handling and candidate placement.

The DOJ plans to deploy a large number of election observers on November 3 to monitor for irregularities, despite objections from local officials in some Democratic-led states.

Trump’s conditional answer was discussed during CNN coverage and referenced by Kaitlan Collins on The Lead.