Barely an hour before the first polls began to close on Election Day, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump posted on Truth Social there was rumored “cheating” in Philadelphia. “Law enforcement coming!!!” the former president wrote.
Trump later claimed on Truth Social that there was "Heavy Law Enforcement" in both Philadelphia and Detroit. Authorities in both states, which have a collective 34 electoral votes in the Presidential Election, denied any irregularities.
Sgt. Daron Zhou from the Detroit Police Department told Fortune: "As we have done in prior elections, the DPD has assigned personnel to locations throughout the City to ensure public safety for all voters during this election cycle. The amount of staffing deployed is appropriate for the expected turnout and consistent with the department’s plan developed in advance to meet the needs of this event. There has been no recent increase in our staffing levels."
A spokesman in the Philadelphia Police Department told Fortune the department was “not aware of anything at this time.” Similarly, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner said the only talk about "massive cheating" has come from Trump.
"There is no factual basis whatsoever within law enforcement to support this wild allegation. We have invited complaints and allegations of improprieties all day. If Donald J. Trump has any facts to support his wild allegations, we want them now. Right now. We are not holding our breath."
A spokesman for the City of Detroit mayor’s office, John Roach, told Fortune there was “initially nothing out of the ordinary.”
Zhou said the police were in close communication with the Detroit City Clerk's office to provide "any needed assistance in ensuring election integrity," he said.
"We are encouraged to see so many people participating in the democratic process this evening and are committed to maintaining a smooth election cycle."
Trump has been alternatively posting on X, the social-media platform owned by supporter Elon Musk, and Truth Social, owned by parent company Trump Media and Technology Group. The stock was halted from trading three times on Tuesday because the share price was too volatile.
This is a breaking news story that will be updated.
