Trump pushes for Voter ID, takes credit for North Korea talks in tweets
Despite his late evening executive order disbanding his struggling voter fraud commission, President Trump is still claiming the country's election system is "rigged" and is now pushing for stronger Voter ID laws in early morning tweets. He also claimed credit for talks between North and South Korea that are reported to take place next week.
The commission, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, quickly attracted criticism over transparency concerns and demands that states hand over voter data.
After Mr. Trump wrote in a Wednesday evening statement that he wanted to cease "engaging in endless legal battles," he tweeted Thursday morning that many "Democrat states" had refused to hand over data from the 2016 election, claiming they did so "because they know that many people are voting illegally."
He added in a follow-up that "as Americans, you need identification, sometimes in a very strong and accurate form, for almost everything you do.....except when it comes to the most important thing, VOTING for the people that run your country."
While many states do require a form of identification when voting, not every state requires you to do so. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a total of 34 states have laws requesting or requiring voters to show some form of identification at the polls. The remaining 18 states use other methods to verify the identity of voters
Several courts across the country have since taken up and thrown out cases pertaining to Voter ID laws, finding some of the requirements disenfranchised certain would-be voters and were discriminatory in its practice.
In another tweet, the president attributed upcoming talks between North and South Korea to his rhetorical stance against the North.
"Does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn't firm, strong and willing to commit our total 'might' against the North," he tweeted. He added, referring to so-called "failed experts" as "fools" for doubting him, and that "talks are a good thing."
During a New Year speech, Kim called for improved relations with the South and said that the North and South could meet to discuss the possibility of sending a delegation to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in February. South Korea welcomed the proposal, and Reuters reported that South Korea and North Korea talks could take place next Tuesday.
A National Security Council official confirmed to CBS News that Mr. Trump and South Korea's Moon Jae-in spoke on the phone Thursday morning. According to Reuters news service, the two agreed during the call to delay their countries' regular joint military exercises during the Winter Olympic Games next month.
Mr. Trump's recent tweet follows what played out as an international tit-for-tat with Kim, in which both leaders compared access and size of their "nuclear buttons," further threatening the use of nuclear weapons on the world stage.
