Trump Says He’ll Get Rid of Mail-In Ballots and Voting Machines by 2026 Midterms After Chatting with Putin

Trump released a lengthy rant on mail-in voting just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly questioned the practice

President Donald Trump went on a lengthy social media rant about mail-in voting hours before hosting an international diplomatic summit at the White House.

“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS,” he wrote on Truth Social, “and also, while we’re at it, Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election.”

“We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting,” he falsely claimed. “All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED. WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.”

Despite his lengthy post, Trump is unable to unilateraly eliminate mail-in voting. States are granted the power to decide the “times, places and manner” of their elections, and only Congress has the ability to overturn a state’s voting law.

However, it’s clear what motivated the president’s recent diatribe. After his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Aug. 15, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the two leaders had discussed the 2020 presidential election.

Trump has repeatedly and falsely blamed his loss to Joe Biden on voter fraud — even calling for an investigation days before the election — and he claimed to Hannity that Putin agreed, pointing to mail-in voting.

“Vladimir Putin said something — one of the most interesting things. He said, ‘Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting,’ ” Trump told Hannity. “He said, ‘Mail-in voting, every election — no country has mail-in voting. It’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.’ And he said that to me because we talked about 2020. He said, ‘You won that election by so much.’ ”

“[He said] it was a rigged election,” Trump added. “You can’t have a great democracy, republic…with mail-in voting.”

Contrary to the Putin claims parroted by Trump, International IDEA reported in October 2024 that 34 countries in the world allow at least some type of mail-in voting. Twelve countries — including Canada, Germany, South Korea and more — allow it for all voters, while 22 allow it for some voters.

In fact, Russia itself allows remote electronic voting — defined as “voting without voting using a paper, using special software” — as of May 2020, when Putin signed a law introducing it on the federal level.

“Putin wants to sow chaos in the American electoral system,” said Brookings Institute senior fellow Fiona Hill on Face the Nation on Sunday, Aug. 17. “[He] just, basically, used his time with President Trump to push that along…It’s a diversion.”

The post also came hours before Trump was set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders to discuss tariffs and brief them on what was discussed during his meeting with Putin on Friday.

Last week, the president claimed that there would be “severe consequences” if Putin refused to stop the war in Ukraine following their sit-down.

However, following the nearly three-hour meeting, Trump announced that he’d failed to secure an agreement from the Russian president.

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” he said, after Putin claimed the two world leaders had reached “an understanding,” per The Associated Press.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom — whom many believe is angling for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 — has recently been copying Trump’s cadence and capitalization in X posts from his press office account designed to provoke the MAGA crowd.

In his response to the president’s post on mail-in voting, however, Newsom kept things more straightforward.

“Trump knows he is going to LOSE in 2026,” he wrote. “His plan to rig new Congressional seats is going to backfire — thanks to California. Now, he’s clamoring for other ways to cook the results,”

“This man reeks of DESPERATION,” Newsom added. “Let’s keep up the pressure.”

Trump released a lengthy rant on mail-in voting just days after Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly questioned the practice

President Donald Trump went on a lengthy social media rant about mail-in voting hours before hosting an international diplomatic summit at the White House.

“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS,” he wrote on Truth Social, “and also, while we’re at it, Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election.”

“We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting,” he falsely claimed. “All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED. WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.”

Despite his lengthy post, Trump is unable to unilateraly eliminate mail-in voting. States are granted the power to decide the “times, places and manner” of their elections, and only Congress has the ability to overturn a state’s voting law.

However, it’s clear what motivated the president’s recent diatribe. After his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Aug. 15, Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity that the two leaders had discussed the 2020 presidential election.

Trump has repeatedly and falsely blamed his loss to Joe Biden on voter fraud — even calling for an investigation days before the election — and he claimed to Hannity that Putin agreed, pointing to mail-in voting.

“Vladimir Putin said something — one of the most interesting things. He said, ‘Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting,’ ” Trump told Hannity. “He said, ‘Mail-in voting, every election — no country has mail-in voting. It’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.’ And he said that to me because we talked about 2020. He said, ‘You won that election by so much.’ ”

“[He said] it was a rigged election,” Trump added. “You can’t have a great democracy, republic…with mail-in voting.”

Contrary to the Putin claims parroted by Trump, International IDEA reported in October 2024 that 34 countries in the world allow at least some type of mail-in voting. Twelve countries — including Canada, Germany, South Korea and more — allow it for all voters, while 22 allow it for some voters.

In fact, Russia itself allows remote electronic voting — defined as “voting without voting using a paper, using special software” — as of May 2020, when Putin signed a law introducing it on the federal level.

“Putin wants to sow chaos in the American electoral system,” said Brookings Institute senior fellow Fiona Hill on Face the Nation on Sunday, Aug. 17. “[He] just, basically, used his time with President Trump to push that along…It’s a diversion.”

The post also came hours before Trump was set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders to discuss tariffs and brief them on what was discussed during his meeting with Putin on Friday.

Last week, the president claimed that there would be “severe consequences” if Putin refused to stop the war in Ukraine following their sit-down.

However, following the nearly three-hour meeting, Trump announced that he’d failed to secure an agreement from the Russian president.

“There’s no deal until there’s a deal,” he said, after Putin claimed the two world leaders had reached “an understanding,” per The Associated Press.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom — whom many believe is angling for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 — has recently been copying Trump’s cadence and capitalization in X posts from his press office account designed to provoke the MAGA crowd.

In his response to the president’s post on mail-in voting, however, Newsom kept things more straightforward.

“Trump knows he is going to LOSE in 2026,” he wrote. “His plan to rig new Congressional seats is going to backfire — thanks to California. Now, he’s clamoring for other ways to cook the results,”

“This man reeks of DESPERATION,” Newsom added. “Let’s keep up the pressure.”