Trump changes his tone on mail voting ahead of the 2026 midterms

WASHINGTON, DC: After spending months staging a rhetorical and legal assault against voting by mail, Donald Trump has now struck a markedly different tone on the practice.

The 80-year-old President released a video urging Republicans to vote early and by mail in the midterm election. The message came as Trump embraced a new GOP strategy focused heavily on mobilizing his political base, with less emphasis on persuading undecided voters to back Republican candidates.

Trump urges Republicans to use every appropriate tool

In the pre-recorded footage released on Saturday, October 3, the Commander-in-Chief mobilized Republican voters ahead of the election, urging them to use “every appropriate tool” to vote in the midterms, including early and mail voting methods he has previously opposed.

"Republicans must WIN the 2026 Midterm Elections, and we must use every appropriate tool," Trump wrote. "Whether you vote early, absentee, by mail, or in-person, we must swamp the Radical Left Dumocrats with massive turnout!"

"The 2026 midterm elections are upon us, and I'm asking every patriot to get out and vote," the president further said in the video. "Vote early, vote by mail, or vote in person on Election Day."

Trump also promoted a Republican voter outreach effort, directing supporters to the "Swamp the Vote" website, an initiative launched by the Trump campaign in 2024 to promote absentee, mail-in and early voting.

It was not the first time the president had contradicted his own comments about voting methods. Earlier this year, Trump himself mailed in his ballot in a special election, saying he had done so “because I’m president of the United States.”

Mail voting gains attention ahead of midterms

With one month before the midterms, over one million ballots had already been cast. In several states with key Senate or governor races this fall, Democrats made up a larger share of voters requesting ballots so far than they did at this point in 2024.

Trump's latest message urged Republicans to make use of the voting options available to them, including early voting, absentee ballots, voting by mail and voting in person on Election Day.

The call came as Republicans focused on turning out their existing voter base ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Trump’s battle against mail-in voting

For years, Trump has promoted unfounded claims that mail-in voting is plagued by fraud while pushing to limit the practice for American voters, efforts that have repeatedly faced resistance from lawmakers and the courts.

In March, Trump signed an executive order seeking to impose new restrictions on mail ballots, but the Supreme Court blocked the effort in September. He also unsuccessfully pressed Congress to pass the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote in federal elections.

Trump's push for the legislation included attempts to attach it to a sweeping defense spending package, calls for Senate Republicans to weaken or bypass the filibuster so it could pass with a simple majority, and repeated pressure on lawmakers through Truth Social, where he presented it as a top legislative priority.

Just weeks ago, Trump again criticized the Supreme Court after it rejected his administration's efforts to restrict mail voting.

Following the ruling, Trump denounced what he called “totally CORRUPT and out of control Mail-In voting,” describing it as a “Nation Destroying SCAM” in a social media post.

In July, he also declared that “mail-in ballots are inherently corrupt.” However, election officials and numerous court reviews conducted since the 2020 election have found no evidence of widespread fraud in mail voting.