"Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!” President Donald Trump tweeted. | Getty Trump calls for 'major investigation' into alleged voter fraud

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he will call for a “major investigation” into voter fraud, which he believes led to millions of illegally cast ballots in last year’s presidential election despite no evidence to support that conclusion.

“I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!” Trump wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning, breaking his message up into multiple posts.


The president’s promise to investigate voter fraud comes two days after he told congressional leaders during a White House meeting that 3 million to 5 million people had voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election, a claim he has also made previously.

But while Trump has been steadfast in his belief that millions voted illegally last November, there is no evidence to support his claim. In a statement released Tuesday, the National Association of Secretaries of State said “we are not aware of any evidence that supports the voter fraud claims made by President Trump, but we are open to learning more about the administration’s concerns.”

At his Tuesday press briefing, White House press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed that “the president does believe” that millions of people voted illegally in the last election and that “he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have presented to him.” The only evidence Spicer was able to provide backing Trump’s position was a Pew study whose author has said his work does not support the president’s claim.

“We found millions of out of date registration records due to people moving or dying, but found no evidence that voter fraud resulted,” David Becker, the Pew study’s author, wrote on Twitter in late November.

Despite Trump’s belief that millions of people voted illegally in last year’s election, Spicer said the president is “very comfortable with his win.” The press secretary left the door open to the type of investigation that Trump announced on Twitter on Wednesday morning, telling reporters that “maybe we will” investigate the president’s claims of voter fraud.

“We'll see where we go from here,” Spicer said.