Sen. Mark Kelly, a possible 2028 presidential contender, said he believes President Donald Trump is actively preparing for something tied to the 2026 and 2028 elections, pointing to recent moves by the administration to seize ballots from Fulton County, Georgia, and recount data from Maricopa County, Arizona.
“He’s up to something,” Kelly said. “He’s planning something. We’ll see what that is.”
The Arizona Democrat, who sits on both the Senate Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, said he’s “much more concerned” about the integrity of upcoming American elections than he was when Trump was sworn in on January 20 of last year.
Asked directly whether he would run for president in 2028, Kelly declined to rule it out — and offered a striking conditional: “It’s going to be a challenging time when we get to 2029, assuming we can have a safe and fair election in 2026 and again in 2028.”
The remark from a former NASA astronaut and Navy combat pilot considered a top-tier potential Democratic candidate marks one of the bluntest assessments yet from a sitting U.S. senator about the security of the next two American elections.
“Donald Trump didn’t send the Director of National Intelligence to Fulton County, Georgia, to grab the 2020 ballots just to do it,” Kelly said. “He has a reason. I don’t know what that reason is. Same thing in Maricopa County, with the recount data from a partisan Republican recount. He wanted all the data.”
Kelly: Hegseth “Least Qualified” Defense Secretary, Is Advocating War Crimes
Should Pete Hegseth resign? Kelly said yes. He called him “the least qualified defense secretary our country has ever seen, and it’s not even close.”
Kelly also accused Hegseth of openly advocating war crimes through his “no quarter” rhetoric toward Iranian forces during the ongoing U.S. war against Iran.
“No quarter means we will kill prisoners,” Kelly said. “That’s against the law, but he doesn’t seem to care.”
The Pentagon’s Law of War Manual defines denial of quarter, or refusing to accept surrender or executing detainees, as a war crime under the law of armed conflict.
Kelly, the only Navy combat pilot in the Senate, said Hegseth’s posture is part of a broader pattern in which the U.S. is now “in a war with Iran” with “no strategic goal or plan or a way to get out or a timeline.”
Hegseth has twice opened Pentagon investigations into Kelly over the past five months. The first was for a video urging service members to refuse illegal orders. The second came earlier this month, after Kelly publicly cited Hegseth’s own congressional testimony about depleted U.S. munitions stockpiles.
Kelly: Gen. CQ Brown Fired “Because of the Color of His Skin”
Kelly told Raw America that he believes the firing of Gen. CQ Brown, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was racially motivated.
“He was fired because of the color of his skin,” Kelly said. “And we’ve seen that repeat over and over again: women being fired, Black officers being fired.”
The Arizona Democrat, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, described the Pentagon as being “hollowed out.” He recounted questioning a nominee for Deputy Secretary of Defense who refused to say whether Russia had invaded Ukraine.
“I said, well, in February 2022, Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers, and troops crossed the border into Ukraine,” he said. “Did Russia invade Ukraine? [He] couldn’t, wouldn’t give me an answer. That’s the kind of people we’re dealing with at this point.”
Kelly on the $1.776 Billion IRS Settlement: “A National Disgrace”
This week, Trump settled his own $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS. His Justice Department created a $1.776 billion taxpayer-funded “Anti-Weaponization Fund” and barred the U.S. government from ever examining Trump’s, his sons’, or the Trump Organization’s tax records.
Kelly called it “a national disgrace.”
“He’s on both sides of the lawsuit,” Kelly said. “He’s the guy who makes the decision, and he’s the guy who’s suing — or was suing — the government.”
He noted that Vice President J.D. Vance has confirmed that payouts from the fund could potentially be made to January 6 defendants pardoned by Trump.
“I’m the son of two cops,” Kelly remarked. “How insulting it is to write a check, possibly for millions of dollars, to a criminal who assaulted a cop here on Capitol Hill in a riot. And the president thinks that’s fine. It’s disgusting.”
He called the settlement structure characteristic of “banana republics” and signaled that Senate Democrats may try to attach amendments to a forthcoming budget reconciliation bill to claw back the fund.
Kelly also told Raw America he’s concerned about Trump’s brokerage trading during the Iran war, including the purchase of oil, defense, and gold positions. He said it raises questions about whether the commander-in-chief is making decisions in the country’s interest or his own.
“Is he making decisions that are not in the country’s best interest, but are in the best interest of him and his family?” Kelly said. “I think it’s very fair to say and clear that the answer to that is yes. And when you do that, you’re not necessarily thinking about and putting our forces first.”
Kelly on AI Data Centers
Raw America readers have expressed outrage at rising electricity prices tied to data centers. Asked why he’s proposed an “AI Horizon Fund” rather than a federal tax on data center power consumption, Kelly told Raw America the fund is “not necessarily voluntary” and that details are still being worked out.
“AI companies and companies that benefit from AI should contribute to the success of their own technology and to the success of our country,” Kelly said. “When we need resources to mitigate some of the downside of this, they’ve got to be part of the solution.”
Kelly recently introduced legislation requiring data center developers to reach agreements with local communities on energy, water, and infrastructure commitments before projects are approved.
Kelly: “I’m Not Giving Up”
As a four-time astronaut, Kelly has spent more than 50 days in space. We closed the interview by asking, “From the perspective of someone who’s seen Earth from orbit, what do you find yourself thinking?”
“That I want to go back to space,” Kelly replied. “I had a serious case of FOMO when the Artemis mission happened. I was about two miles away when they launched, I was in the mission control center when they went around the moon, and then I was on CNN when they landed.”
“When you see the Earth from orbit, you really get this strong sense of how we’re all in this together, and we’ve got to work together,” he added.
“I think if we get the right people into the right offices, and we approach these problems comprehensively, as a team, and make smart decisions, the rest of this century can really be an American century,” he said. “But I also think there’s a possibility we could really screw it up. Our democracy could be weakened or gone, and we’ll continue to see a rise of China. If that happens, American citizens will be poorer and less safe.”
“I’m going to do everything I can to prevent that,” he continued. “I’m one guy here in the United States Senate, but I’m going to fight. I’ve fought for this country and risked my life for this country, flying in combat, and nearly got killed a bunch of times doing that. I launched on a rocket ship four times for this country. I’m not giving up.”
The full unedited transcript of John Byrne’s interview with Sen. Mark Kelly is below.
— John Byrne / Founder, Raw America and Raw Story.
John Byrne: Thanks for joining us, Senator.
Sen. Mark Kelly: Good to be on, John. Thank you.
John Byrne: The Office of Government Ethics just released a 113-page disclosure showing that an account in Donald Trump’s name made 3,600 trades in the first quarter of this year — buying oil, defense stocks, and gold on the same days he publicly told Americans the war would end. As a former combat pilot, what’s the risk to U.S. forces when the commander-in-chief has a financial position that benefits from the war dragging on?
Sen. Mark Kelly: Well, let me start by saying I put all of mine and my wife’s assets in a blind trust. I do not trade stocks. Members of Congress shouldn’t trade stocks. Many of them do.
There’s one thing about having the information ahead of time — you get a sense in this job, because of the briefings you’re in, often in a secure classified facility, stuff that you know before the public knows. So you can make trades on that if you choose to, and it’s pretty obvious that people do.
The other side of it is, you could make decisions based on what’s in the best interest of your personal net worth, your portfolio. Both of those things are concerning with Donald Trump. Is he making decisions that are not in the country’s best interest but in the best interest of him and his family? With other things we’ve seen, I think it’s very fair to say the answer to that is yes. And when you do that, you’re not necessarily putting our forces first. So that’s a big concern of mine.
John Byrne: President Trump has called for your execution, and Pete Hegseth is trying to strip the rank you earned. Let me just ask it directly — do you think Pete Hegseth should be Defense Secretary?
Sen. Mark Kelly: No, I did not vote for him. [He’s the] least qualified defense secretary our country has ever seen, and it’s not even close. I tried to make that point during his confirmation hearings, but enough of my Republican colleagues still voted for him — and we see the results.
This is a guy who runs around on a stage talking about killing people and lethality. He has little regard for the rule of law. He’s talked about “no quarter.” No quarter means we will kill prisoners. That’s against the law, but he doesn’t seem to care. And because of that, we’re in a war with Iran. We got into this thing — him and the president — with no strategic goal, no plan, no way to get out, no timeline. None of the things you would normally do, like getting your allies together behind an effort. That didn’t happen, and that’s why we find ourselves now alone on an island, with the president trying to figure out what to do next, and he has little in the way of ideas.
Our government is being run incredibly poorly from the administration, and because of that, Americans are going to pay more for stuff — especially energy — and we’re going to be less safe.
John Byrne: Do you think Hegseth’s firing of generals is recoverable for the military? Does it permanently degrade our readiness?
Sen. Mark Kelly: It’ll take some time. It started with the firing of CQ Brown, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs — eminently qualified for this job, a fantastic fighter pilot, but also a leader, a great manager, and a fantastic general. He was fired because of the color of his skin. And we’ve seen that repeat over and over again — women being fired, Black officers being fired. These are very qualified individuals who were doing their jobs.
The department’s being hollowed out, and it’s not just the military leadership — it’s the civilian leadership as well. I sit on the Armed Services Committee, so I see this stuff up close. Some of the individuals they’re putting into these jobs can’t even answer basic questions, often because they feel so beholden to Donald Trump and they’ve got to kiss his ass all the time.
I asked one nominee to be Deputy Secretary of Defense if Russia invaded Ukraine. He wouldn’t answer the question. So I said, well, in February 2022, Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers, and troops crossed the border into Ukraine — did Russia invade Ukraine? He couldn’t, wouldn’t give me an answer. That’s the kind of people we’re dealing with at this point.
John Byrne: You’re talking a lot about leadership and the failure of leadership in the Trump administration. You told NOTUS last week that the question for you about a potential run in 2028 would be, “Am I the right person for this moment?” This seems like the moment. Are you the person?
Sen. Mark Kelly: Well, I have a different background than most senators and House members. I’m an engineer, military pilot, and test pilot. I was an astronaut for 15 years. I come from a world where we use science, data, and facts to make decisions, and we also collaborate to get the best answer. That’s the opposite of what this administration does. The president’s put a lot of yes-men around him.
It’s going to be a challenging time when we get to 2029 — assuming we can have a safe and fair election in 2026 and again in 2028. We’re going to have some big challenges ahead, and it’s going to be a big job. This is something I’ve got to work out with my family. I haven’t made a decision yet.
John Byrne: On Monday, the Trump administration dropped his own $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS and created a $1.8 billion fund — what people are calling a slush fund for his allies — and barred the U.S. from investigating his taxes. Is there any word for this other than self-dealing? And is there a legislative fix Congress could enact?
Sen. Mark Kelly: I’ve got another word for it: it’s a disgrace. It’s a national disgrace that this president was ever able to get this kind of settlement. He’s on both sides of the lawsuit. He’s the guy who makes the decision, and he’s the guy who was suing the government. And he gets DOJ to settle for $1.776 billion — you get it, 1776. He’s all about the marketing.
We used to teach kids in school — I remember being taught this — that nobody is above the law. Well, that’s not true anymore. There’s one family that is above the law. The president, his children — they can’t get audited, they can’t get investigated for tax fraud. This is a guy who’s built through multiple bankruptcies, refused to release his taxes, and then when they got released, he complained about it and sued. And now he says — the vice president said this the other day — that some of these checks could go to January 6 criminals who assaulted police officers. That’s not out of the question.
Just think about that for a second. I’m the son of two cops. How insulting it is to write a check, possibly for millions of dollars, to a criminal who assaulted a cop here on Capitol Hill in a riot — and the president thinks that’s fine. It’s disgusting.
We’re going to do everything we can to try to stop it. We have an opportunity maybe this week, with some amendments to what’s called a budget reconciliation bill, to try to do something about it. We’ll see if the Republicans will join us in fighting back against this corruption. This is the kind of thing that happens in banana republics, and that’s what this president is turning us into.
John Byrne: Another topic our readers care a lot about is data centers, and I know this is an issue that’s been important to you in Arizona. You’ve proposed something that’s almost like a voluntary fund AI companies would pay into. Why not a federal tax on data center power consumption?
Sen. Mark Kelly: Well, we’ve got to figure out how to fund the fund — we’ll call it the AI Horizon Fund — to make sure we have the resources to do job training and build the infrastructure that’s needed. I also recently introduced legislation to get communities and data center companies working together. Communities need to have a say. If they don’t want a data center in their community, it shouldn’t be forced upon them. But if they’re willing to work together, there are some things we can do to move that process along.
We want this to be successful. We want AI to be successful. We’ve never been able to stop technology in our country, and one of the reasons is we’re really good at this. But back to the fund you’re talking about — it’s not necessarily voluntary. We’re still working out the details. AI companies and companies that benefit from AI should contribute to the success of their own technology and to the success of our country. And when we need resources to mitigate some of the downside of this, they’ve got to be part of the solution.
John Byrne: I’ve been covering American politics every day for 22 years. I started my first political website just out of college. I can’t say I’m very optimistic about our democracy at this moment. Athenian democracy only lasted about 200 years, and we’re coming up on America’s 250th. I think our readers would say this present moment is pretty bleak. What gives you hope, and what makes you think our democracy can endure?
Sen. Mark Kelly: I worry too. Donald Trump didn’t send the Director of National Intelligence to Fulton County, Georgia, to grab the 2020 ballots just to do it. He has a reason. I don’t know what that reason is. Same thing in Maricopa County, with the recount data from a partisan Republican recount. He wanted all the data. So he’s up to something. He’s planning something. We’ll see what that is.
We’ve got to be on top of this. We’ve got to make sure 2026 is a free and fair election, and again in 2028. I am much more concerned about that today than I was when he was sworn in on January 20 of last year.
But what gives me hope is — we’re resilient. By and large, the American people, we’re proud of our country, we’re proud of our democracy, and I think we’re willing to fight for it. We’re willing to get out there and vote. If we get out in bigger numbers and vote these clowns out of office, we should be able to transition to a new government and try to solve some of these problems and work together to solve them — not have a failed real estate developer make all the decisions as if he’s a wannabe dictator. That is not a recipe for success.
You can see it already. His tariffs are costing the American people thousands and thousands of dollars every year. On top of that, his war in Iran is costing them more. Millions of people are losing their health care because he wanted to give a big tax cut to his billionaire and millionaire friends and his family. And layered on top of that is all the other corruption right now — this weaponization fund, his stablecoin where he collects fees, his meme coins, his crappy meat and wine, and the phones that people may or may not get. It’ll be interesting to see — he announced they’re finally going to get their phones. I’m really interested to see the review of these phones.
John Byrne: Let me give you one last question, because I know you’ve got to go. You’ve spent more than 50 days in space. When you watch what’s happening in Washington right now from the perspective of someone who’s seen Earth from orbit, what do you find yourself thinking?
Sen. Mark Kelly: That I want to go back to space. I had a serious case of FOMO when the Artemis mission happened. I was about two miles away when they launched, I was in the mission control center when they went around the moon, and then I was on CNN when they landed. So I followed it very closely.
When you see the Earth from orbit, you really get this strong sense of how we’re all in this together, and we’ve got to work together. We’ve got some serious problems, but those problems are solvable, and there’s no better country in the world at solving hard problems than the United States of America.
I’m thankful. My granddaughter is born here, I’ve got another granddaughter on the way in August, so we’re excited about that. And I think if we get the right people into the right offices, and we approach these problems comprehensively, as a team, and make smart decisions, the rest of this century can really be an American century. But I also think there’s a possibility we could really screw it up — our democracy could be weakened or gone, and we’ll continue to see a rise of China. If that happens, American citizens will be poorer and less safe.
So I’m going to do everything I can to prevent that. I’m one guy here in the United States Senate, but I’m going to fight. I’ve fought for this country and risked my life for this country, flying in combat, nearly got killed a bunch of times doing that. Launched on a rocket ship four times for this country. I’m not giving up.
John Byrne: Thank you for joining us, Senator Kelly. We really appreciate it, and I hope you have a great rest of your day.
Sen. Mark Kelly: You too. Thank you.
