Trump abandons American democracy to follow Putin’s orders, vowing to disenfranchise millions of voters – including his own – to please his favorite dictator
SHOT: On Friday, Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump that mail-in voting is bad for democracy. And while Trump may have turned his back on the American people, the Russian dictator who has murdered political opponents, rigged elections, invaded sovereign nations, and destroyed his own country’s democratic institutions now has a direct line to influence American election policy. Putin’s regime has spent decades perfecting voter suppression and election manipulation, and now he’s sharing his playbook with Trump, who knows he can’t win on his failed and unpopular agenda of tax handouts for billionaires and health care cuts for working families.
Aaron Rupar on X: Trump: “Vladimir Putin said something — one of the most interesting things. He said ‘your election was rigged because you have mail in voting.’ 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.’”
Reuters: U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agrees with him that letting voters send in ballots by mail puts honest elections at risk. “Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can’t have an honest election with mail-in voting,” Trump told Fox News Channel’s “Hannity” after a nearly three-hour meeting between the leaders in Alaska. “He said there’s not a country in the world that uses it now.” Trump, who promoted the false narrative that he, not Democrat Joe Biden, won the 2020 election, cited his agreement with Putin over absentee voting as he pressed his fellow Republicans to try harder to advance overhauls to the U.S. voting system that he has long sought.
CHASER: …and Trump immediately falls in line. Just three days after taking marching orders from Moscow, Trump announces a wildly unconstitutional scheme to end mail-in voting across America. The same voting method that millions of Americans rely on, including military families stationed overseas, seniors, and disabled voters, is now under attack because Putin whispered in Trump’s ear — and Trump knows he can’t win fair and square running on his own unpopular agenda.
Jamie Dupree on X: President Trump is threatening an unconstitutional takeover of state elections by executive order. “They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them,” Trump says, calling for an end to vote-by-mail.
Axios: President Trump on Monday vowed to “get rid of” mail-in ballots and said he would sign an executive order “to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.” While he shifted his tune before the 2024 election to promote absentee voting, Trump has long railed against mail-in voting — and he’s back to singing that song. In harmony with him, Trump recently claimed on Fox News, is Russian President Vladimir Putin. The president didn’t mention Putin [in] his Monday Truth Social post, but following the leaders’ Alaska summit on Friday, Trump relayed to Fox’s Sean Hannity that Putin told him, “Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting.”
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