President Donald Trump has offered $1 million to people who report voter fraud that results in an arrest and conviction, raising the financial stakes of his election-integrity push just over a week before the 2026 midterms. Trump announced the offer on Truth Social on Monday, saying it would apply both to alleged fraud in previous elections and to the November 3 midterm elections. TRUMP.” Trump did not say where the money would come from, how people could submit information, who would determine whether a tip qualified or whether the offer was part of an existing federal program.
The White House did not provide additional details when asked by Newsweek, instead pointing to Trump’s Truth Social post. The Justice Department, asked whether it would administer or otherwise be involved in the reward and how it would be funded, told Newsweek: “We defer to the White House.” The announcement comes eight days before Election Day and amid an intensifying push by the Trump administration against alleged election fraud, including prosecutions, investigations and litigation over voter eligibility and voter rolls. It also comes less than a week after Trump and Vice President JD Vance unveiled a separate $25 million program offering people financial rewards for exposing fraud involving federal programs.
Monday’s offer lands amid a much broader federal campaign against alleged election fraud. The Justice Department said on October 20 that it had charged 113 people in 20 states with illegal voting and illegal registration offenses over the preceding seven weeks. The allegations included noncitizens voting in federal elections, people falsely claiming U.S. citizenship on registration forms and people allegedly voting more than once.
Those cases are allegations rather than findings of guilt. Among the administration's most contentious battles is one with California over voters that federal authorities say may not be U.S. citizens. The DOJ sued California this month seeking to prevent ballots associated with more than 20,000 people it described as “likely” noncitizens from being counted until their citizenship could be determined.
California officials have disputed the government's claims and said they have not received sufficient information to verify its list. Trump has also threatened election officials in the state with jail if they count ballots from people flagged by the administration. Legal experts previously told Newsweek that prosecutors would need evidence that officials knowingly and intentionally facilitated illegal voting, rather than simply processing a ballot belonging to someone whose eligibility was disputed.
At the same time, the administration has been pursuing states for access to detailed voter-registration records. Earlier this month, a federal judge rejected the Justice Department's effort to obtain Georgia's unredacted statewide voter list, marking its 26th consecutive court defeat in litigation seeking detailed voter records from states. The administration has filed appeals in multiple cases.
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