Trump sounds call for voter ID laws to fix ‘rigged’ system, after disbanding fraud panel

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Trump: Voter fraud, suppression must be stopped

President comments at first meeting of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity

President Trump called Thursday for new “Voter I.D.” laws, just hours after dissolving his presidential commission on voter fraud.

The president disbanded the controversial panel focused on “election integrity,” blaming a refusal by more than a dozen states to provide what he called “basic information.”

“Many mostly Democrat States refused to hand over data from the 2016 Election to the Commission On Voter Fraud. They fought hard that the Commission not see their records or methods because they know that many people are voting illegally. System is rigged, must go to Voter I.D.,” Trump tweeted.

The commission was led by Vice President Pence and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. They asked all 50 states and the District of Columbia to hand over personal voter data including voters’ names, voting histories and party affiliations.

Multiple states – including Virginia, Kentucky, and California –declined to comply with the commission’s requests.

TRUMP DISSOLVES VOTER FRAUD COMMISSION AFTER STATES BALK AT DATA REQUESTS

During the panel’s first meeting, Trump questioned the motives of states refusing to comply with the commission’s requests, suggesting they had something to hide. Trump months earlier had alleged, without evidence, that 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election, delivering the popular vote to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

On Thursday, Trump turned his attention to stronger voter ID laws.

“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. Push hard for Voter Identification!” Trump tweeted.

The president also tackled developments over North Korea in his Thursday morning tweets -- coming after he caused a stir by boasting about the size of his "nuclear button" compared with Kim Jong Un’s.

TRUMP TELLS KIM JONG UN HIS 'NUCLEAR BUTTON' IS BIGGER, 'MORE POWERFUL'

Trump assured supporters on Thursday that the "experts" were wrong, and that North Korea’s desired dialogue with South Korea was based on his “firm” stance on denuclearization.

“With all of the failed ‘experts’ weighing in, 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. Fools, but talks are a good thing!” he tweeted.

Kim Jong Un said in a speech earlier this week that he hoped to begin talks with South Korea prior to the 2018 Winter Olympics, which begin next month in Pyeongchang.

Fox News’ Sam Chamberlain and The Associated Press contributed to this report.