Donald Trump Voter Fraud Update: Latest Reports Indicate President Is Backing Away From Investigation

President Donald Trump reportedly isn't planning an investigation anytime soon to look into voter fraud during the 2016 election, despite his recent claims of a widespread issue.

An anonymous senior administration official said they wouldn't rule out an investigation further down the road, but for now it was no longer one of Trump's top priorities, CNN reported Thursday. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said last week that Trump would sign an executive order to launch a Justice Department investigation into the issue.

"It will be a follow-up to the announcement yesterday to better understand voter fraud," Spicer told reporters.

The executive order was later shelved and it appears it might remain on the shelf for a while. Despite winning the presidency through the Electoral College, Trump lost the popular vote to Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton by nearly 3 million votes. Trump has regularly claimed, without citing evidence, that 3 to 5 million illegal votes cost him the popular vote.

In a series of tweets the week after inauguration he wrote: "I will be asking for a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD, including those registered to vote in two states, those who are illegal and....even, those registered to vote who are dead (and many for a long time). Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures!"

Republican leaders in Congress have urged the president to stop bringing up the claims of voter fraud. After the false start last week, some in the White House are split on whether Trump should ever launch the investigation, CNN reported. But while Trump appears to be backing away from the voter fraud claims, they could soon return. One anonymous staffer told the network the president was waiting for Sen. Jeff Sessions to be confirmed as attorney general, while a senior official said the issue could be addressed again later.

A recent poll found just 18 percent of voters thought no voter fraud occurred, 35 percent thought it helped Trump while 30 percent thought it helped Clinton.