Trump Claims 35,152 Noncitizens Registered to Vote in New Jersey

Trump amplifies a Homeland Security estimate for New Jersey, calls the state's voters Democrats and presses Republicans in Congress to pass the SAVE America Act.

First Published: July 21, 2026, 7:47 PM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald Trump claimed that Homeland Security identified 35,152 noncitizens registered to vote in New Jersey, calling the figure a fraction of a far larger total and urging Congress to tighten election rules.

Trump said the count captured only those “that got caught” and predicted the real number would prove “many times this amount.” He labeled the registrants Democrats and called on Republicans to “straighten out our Crooked Elections” by passing the SAVE America Act.

Here is the full post on Truth Social: “35,152 is the new number just released by Homeland Security of non-citizens registered to vote in New Jersey. These are just the ones that got caught. The real numbers will prove to be many times this amount. They are all Dumocrats! Republicans, get smart and straighten out our Crooked Elections! Pass The Save America Act!!!” on July 21, 2026 at 11:32 PM ET.

This is the first message released by Trump today. On average, Trump produces about 12 posts per day since his inauguration on January 20, 2025.

The move fits a broader pattern in Trump’s recent messaging, with 97 of his 494 posts over the last 30 days focused on elections.

The 35,152 figure comes from a preliminary Department of Homeland Security review of voter records in states that declined to share data with the federal government, according to cbsnews.com. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told reporters the administration believes more than 250,000 noncitizens registered across four states, according to cbsnews.com. Preliminary reviews pointed to up to 190,832 in California, 35,152 in New Jersey, 15,903 in Nevada and 14,576 in Pennsylvania, according to cbsnews.com.

The stakes fall heaviest on election officials in the four named states, all led by Democrats, who now face federal pressure to purge names or defend their rolls. Republicans stand to gain a talking point months before the November midterms that will decide control of the House and Senate. Voters wrongly flagged risk removal from the rolls, since the estimate rests on commercial databases prone to false positives, according to cbsnews.com.

The administration has not released the methodology behind the estimate. David Becker, executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, said the data “includes a ton of people, maybe even a majority of people, who are absolutely eligible voters, and states would probably be breaking the law if they remove those voters from the rolls,” according to cbsnews.com.

For the average reader, the numbers loom large in rhetoric but small in scale. The claimed 250,000 registrations equal roughly 0.1% of the more than 211 million active registered voters nationwide in 2024, according to cbsnews.com. That total also amounts to about 0.6% of the nearly 40 million registered across the four states. Federal law already bars noncitizens from voting in federal elections, and no state permits them to vote in statewide contests, according to cbsnews.com.

This has happened before. Trump has repeatedly claimed without evidence that elections were rigged, and courts dismissed dozens of lawsuits seeking to reverse the 2020 outcomes, according to cbsnews.com. His second-term push includes two executive orders tightening mail-in ballot rules and requiring proof of citizenship, both of which courts blocked, according to cbsnews.com.

The next decision rests with Congress on the SAVE America Act, which would require photo identification to cast a ballot and in-person proof of citizenship to register, according to cbsnews.com. No date for a vote has been announced. New Jersey’s Governor has disputed the federal count, and state election officials will decide whether to challenge the demand.

Disputes over New Jersey’s ballots are older than the state itself. In 1738, colonial Governor Lewis Morris feuded with the provincial assembly over election returns and voting qualifications, jailing critics and voiding contests he distrusted, drawing rebukes from London. The Crown eventually curbed his powers. Morris died in office in 1746 with his authority diminished and his election disputes unresolved.