Power Grab/Fire anyone who can stop him
Trump says he called Los Angeles’s top federal prosecutor and told him “do me a favor” and look at California’s primary count
Trump said so at a rally in Macungie, Pennsylvania, as early returns showed his endorsed candidate for governor, Steve Hilton, trailing in the state’s top-two primary.
What happened
At a rally in Macungie, Pennsylvania on June 23, 2026, Trump said he had personally called Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the Central District of California, and told him: “Do me a favor. Take a look, they are trying to steal that election, too.” The call came as early returns showed Steve Hilton trailing in the state’s top-two primary.
Trump claimed the call was why Hilton advanced, saying that “had I not made that call,” Hilton “would right now be watching the election from home.” Hilton finished second as later-counted ballots were tallied, a routine result in California’s top-two system.
Essayli had announced on June 5 that his office was examining California’s elections. Earlier in June, Trump had posted that Democrats were stealing the California vote and that federal authorities were investigating. A federal judge ruled in October 2025 that Essayli was unlawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney and could act only as first assistant.
Who benefited
Trump and his candidate gained a federal examination announced during a live count, and a narrative that the count was corrupt. Essayli took the president’s call and had publicly announced his office’s examination of California’s elections.
Who wanted something
Trump, by his own account, made the call himself. Essayli announced the examination on June 5. In May, Trump said he had ordered the Justice Department to investigate a Maryland ballot error, so the request fit a pattern of calls for federal action on vote counts.
Who lost out
California election officials were put under federal scrutiny for counting ballots on the schedule state law sets. Voters were told by the president that a routine count was theft. The norm that a president does not direct prosecutors to investigate elections in which he has a stake also lost.
Why it matters
Trump described, in public and with pride, a president calling a prosecutor to seek an investigation that helps his side in a live election. Justice Department rules were written to prevent exactly that. The prosecutor he called had been ruled unlawfully serving as acting U.S. attorney eight months earlier.
Sources Democracy DocketWikipedia (citing Politico, NBC, LA Times)Votebeat