[Anchor]

With the U.S. midterm elections just 8 days away, President Trump has once again claimed election fraud, laying the groundwork to contest the results. While threatening to use his veto power on every single bill if he loses the election, he also engaged in a sharp war of words with former President Obama.

Reporting from Washington, this is Jeon Byeong-nam.

[Reporter]

U.S. President Donald Trump has raised issues once again regarding the U.S. Senate race in Alaska, a key midterm battleground.

The controversy arose because another candidate named Daniel Sullivan is running against incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan, who is seeking a third term. President Trump claimed this is a "fraud" intended to siphon votes away from the Republican candidate.

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: You have a Daniel Sullivan running on the ballot. That is very unfair. It's a total trick.]

President Trump has directed the Justice Department to file a lawsuit in federal court blocking the certification of the results until an investigation can determine whether voters were confused, in the event that Republicans lose.

While Alaska is traditionally a Republican stronghold, recent polls show Democratic candidate Peltola leading the Republican candidate Sullivan.

The Trump administration has also put the brakes on mail-in ballot counting in California and demanded voter rolls containing sensitive information from Washington, D.C., and 30 states.

Critics point out that he is already building justifications to dispute the results in case of a defeat, even before the election takes place.

As the election campaign heats up, President Trump and former President Obama have traded sharp barbs.

[Barack Obama / Former U.S. President: The President has made a series of bad decisions. Most notably, he decided to launch an unnecessary war that nobody wanted and nobody voted for.]

[Donald Trump / U.S. President: Obama got a Nobel Prize two weeks after taking office, and he didn't even know why he got it.]

In addition, President Trump has continued making provocative statements to rally his base, warning that he could raise tariffs up to 50% on foreign companies trying to take advantage of the U.S., and threatening to veto all bills if Democrats win control of the House and Senate.

(Camera by Eunha | Video Editing by Sunghoon | Design by Dayoung)