US President Donald Trump says his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin shares his views.
Mail-in voting
Following his August 15 meeting with Putin in Alaska, Trump told Fox News: "Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can't have an honest election with mail-in voting."
"election was rigged"
Trump added that Vladimir Putin said to him that the "election was rigged" because of mail-in voting.
2020
This statement stems from the Republican billionaire's conviction that the 2020 presidential elections were "stolen" from him. Indeed, the latter has never acknowledged his defeat by Joe Biden and has unfoundedly denounced massive electoral fraud, notably in absentee voting, a method widely used in the United States.
Trump's statement on Truth Social
"I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, 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," hammered the American president on his Truth Social platform.
Another executive order
Trump also announced that he would sign an executive order to help bring HONESTY to the midterm elections in November 2026, without giving any details of the text's content.
Tighter control
In addition, President Trump had already signed an executive order at the end of March to restrict absentee voting and impose tighter controls on voter lists in US states.