For a politician who spent years warning his supporters that early and mail-in voting were riddled with fraud, Donald Trump delivered a strikingly different message on Saturday: vote now, and vote by any method available.
The US president traveled to a polling station in Florida to cast his own ballot ahead of the midterms, elections that will shape the remainder of his second term. From there, he urged voters in states where balloting is already underway — including California, Michigan and Florida — to follow suit, using his Truth Social account to amplify the call.
A Direct Appeal to Supporters
“In-person early voting has now begun in the beautiful state of New Jersey. If you received your mail-in ballot, send it in immediately. If not, go to the polls without delay and encourage every one of your friends and family to vote Republican up and down the ticket, without exception!” he wrote in one post on Saturday.
The about-face is all the more remarkable given that, in mid-September, courts blocked two presidential decrees aimed at restricting access to the ballot, one of which would have barred the postal service from delivering certain mail-in ballots.
Years of Doubt Cast on Voting Methods
Trump has for years opposed early, proxy and postal voting, accusing the practices of enabling electoral fraud and urging voters to distrust them. Only in-person voting on election day, with paper ballots, has found favor in his eyes — even though he has regularly made use of early voting himself.
California’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, took to X this week to denounce what he called the president’s hypocrisy after Trump encouraged Californians to vote by mail. “It’s good to see Trump support mail-in voting in California; he might want to let his Justice Department know he approves,” Newsom said in a pointed rebuke.
Corruption Claims and New Fraud Allegations
Questioned by reporters on Saturday after casting his ballot about corruption as a major theme for voters, Trump insisted Republicans were “standing tall” on the issue. “But you should look at the real corruption — it’s Democrat corruption,” he added at the polling station in West Palm Beach, near his Mar-a-Lago residence.
The president, who has never accepted his defeat in the 2020 presidential election and has repeatedly alleged — without evidence — massive electoral fraud, leveled fresh claims on Saturday, asserting that invalid ballots existed in Los Angeles, a heavily Democratic city.
Ten Days Out, Polls Look Bleak
With ten days to go before midterms that have traditionally punished the party holding the White House, Trump faces grim polling that suggests he could lose control of the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate.
Without majorities in Congress, the 80-year-old president would be left with little room to maneuver to pass his legislative agenda during his final two years in power.
He could also face a wave of congressional investigations from Democrats, who have said they intend to examine the business dealings of the president and his associates through the family holding company since his return to the White House.
