U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on March 26, 2026. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump, who wants to ban mail-in voting, said he has the right to vote by mail in Tuesday’s special election in Florida “because I am president of the United States.”
The president’s statement at his Cabinet meeting on Thursday comes as he is aggressively pushing Republicans in the U.S. Senate to break the long-standing filibuster and pass a restrictive vote The invoice before the 2026 midterm elections.
The legislation, which would require a birth certificate and other documentation for voter registration, would also ban universal absentee voting without special federal authorization. after to the Brennan Center and other sources.
“Because I’m president of the United States and because I’m president of the United States, I did a mail-in vote for the election in Florida because I felt like I should be here instead of in the beautiful sunshine,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“We have exceptions for mail-in ballots. You know that, right?” he said to the reporter who asked for his mail-in ballot. “So if you’re out of town, we have an exception. If you’re in the military, we have an exception. If you’re on a business trip, we have an exception. If you’re disabled, we have an exception. And if you’re sick, if you’re not feeling well. So I was mostly in Washington, D.C., so I voted by mail.”
The president regularly travels on Air Force One between the nation’s capital and Florida, including a trip to his home in Palm Beach last weekend.
The White House declined to comment on whether anyone other than the president requested, picked up and dropped off, or mailed the president’s mail-in ballot.
Florida election Law states that only a person’s immediate family member or legal guardian can do this.
“As President Trump has said, the SAVE America Act provides reasonable exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, disability, military or travel purposes – but universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it is highly susceptible to fraud. As everyone knows, the President is based in Palm Beach and votes in elections in Florida, but he obviously lives primarily in the White House in Washington, D.C. This is not a story,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in a written statement.
Trump’s statement also came three days after conservative Supreme Court justices seemed skeptical This federal law allows states to accept mail-in ballots that are postmarked by Election Day but received after polls close, within a five-day grace period. While the case was heard outside Mississippi, 14 states — both red and blue — have similar laws.
Refrain for the 2020 election
Discrediting mail-in voting has been a recurrent refrain of Trump’s since the 2020 presidential election, which he lost but still falsely claims he won.
According to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, about 30% of voters cast mail-in ballots in the 2024 election.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, eight states and Washington, D.C. allow all elections to be conducted entirely by mail. These are: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington State.
Nebraska and North Dakota allow counties to choose to conduct elections by mail.
Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey and New Mexico allow predominantly mail-in voting for certain petite jurisdictions. A handful of other states allow absentee voting for local elections.
SAVE America Act and filibuster
Trump wrote on his social media platform Thursday morning: “When is ‘enough, enough’ for our Republican senators? There comes a time when you have to do what should have been done a long time ago and something the crazy Democrats will do on day one if they ever get the chance. END THE FILIBUSTER and get our airports and everything else moving again. Also add all five points, SAVE AMERICA ACT points. Get this Gold!!! President DJT”
Trump complicated negotiations on Monday when he said at an event in Memphis, Tennessee, that he would not agree to a deal to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown that has been ongoing since mid-February unless senators could find a way to also pass his voting bill, the so-called SAVE America Act.
The filibuster requires almost all legislation to receive 60 votes to pass in the Senate. Since all Democrats are against the law, the bill would not receive support enough support in the upper chamber, which is divided 53-47.
