President Donald J. Trump reportedly announced Monday that he will sign an executive order to eliminate mail-in ballots and what he called “seriously controversial” voting machines before the 2026 midterm elections, doubling down on his long-running campaign to restore what he describes as honesty in America’s electoral system.
In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump repeated his opposition to mail-in voting, insisting that other countries had abandoned the practice “because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED.”
He pledged to replace current methods with what he described as a faster, cheaper, and more reliable alternative: paper ballots.
“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,” Trump wrote.
The president argued that the reforms were necessary to safeguard American democracy from manipulation.
“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,” he added.
Trump has long said that mail-in voting poses unacceptable risks of fraud. His criticism intensified after the 2020 election, which he described as “rigged” because of the widespread use of mail-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic.
According to a U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) report released in June, nearly a third of ballots in 2024 were still submitted by mail — 30.3 percent of all votes — well above pre-pandemic levels, though down from the record 43 percent during the 2020 election.
The legal battle over election procedures has already been contentious.
In June, a judge blocked part of Trump’s earlier executive order from March that sought to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day but arriving later.
The ruling held that the president lacked authority to dictate state election rules.
In his latest remarks, Trump appeared ready to challenge that premise directly. “Remember, the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes,” he wrote. “They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do.”
The president accused Democrats of relying on what he called a fraudulent system. “ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS,” he said. “I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS.”
For Trump, the matter extends beyond process to principle. “THE MAIL-IN BALLOT HOAX, USING VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER, MUST END, NOW!!!” he wrote. “REMEMBER, WITHOUT FAIR AND HONEST ELECTIONS, AND STRONG AND POWERFUL BORDERS, YOU DON’T HAVE EVEN A SEMBLANCE OF A COUNTRY.”
Trump’s executive order is expected to spark fierce opposition from Democrats and legal challenges in the courts. Yet his message is clear: without fundamental changes to how Americans vote, he argues, the integrity of the nation’s democracy cannot be guaranteed.
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