Trump Cites Putin to Justify Dismantling U.S. Elections
Here’s Why Every Part of His Argument Falls Apart
On August 18, two events collided in the American political theater with near-satirical precision.
First, Donald Trump posted on Truth Social that he plans to issue an executive order eliminating mail-in ballots and voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterms. His justification is a conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who reportedly told him that mail-in voting is how U.S. elections are rigged.
Hours later, Newsmax announced a $67 million defamation settlement with Dominion Voting Systems over those exact same lies. The network that once fueled the voter fraud narrative Trump is still clinging to has just agreed to pay tens of millions for the damage those falsehoods caused.
One figure repeats the myth as policy. The other is finally being held accountable for spreading it.
Trump’s post wasn’t just another social media tantrum. It was a blueprint to weaken American democracy, propped up by disproven claims, debunked propaganda, and the endorsement of an authoritarian adversary. And every part of it falls apart under scrutiny.
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The Mail-In Ballot Myth
Trump’s central claim that mail-in ballots are a vehicle for mass fraud has been investigated repeatedly and consistently debunked, not just by academics or left-leaning watchdogs, but by institutions that had every incentive to prove the opposite.
The Heritage Foundation, authors of Project 2025 and a conservative think tank with a clear political agenda, created an election fraud database designed to showcase the dangers of vote-by-mail and other voting reforms. After years of collecting cases, they identified just over 1,400 instances across more than four decades. That equates to about 33 cases per year out of billions of ballots cast. Even with confirmation bias baked in, they couldn't make the numbers look dangerous.
Those cases aren’t all voter fraud, either. Many were procedural errors or isolated incidents that were caught and corrected, often by the very election systems conservatives claim are broken.
In short, Heritage tried to find widespread fraud and failed. Their findings weaken the voter fraud narrative more than any liberal critique could.
More importantly, countless studies that followed appropriate statistical and scientific methods have consistently found no evidence of widespread voter fraud, much less specifically tied to mail-in ballots. True scientific study, as well as partisan efforts to reach specific and opposite results, have reached the exact same conclusion: there is no widespread voter fraud in the United States.
We’ve reported on this for months. See some of that here:
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Mail-In Voting Works Around the World
Trump also claimed that the U.S. is the only country using mail-in ballots. This claim is so false it’s almost embarrassing to fact-check.
More than 30 developed democracies allow some form of postal voting. Countries like Germany, Canada, the UK, Australia, and Switzerland have integrated mail-in voting into their election systems with overwhelming success. These nations employ common-sense safeguards, such as signature verification, ballot tracking, and barcode security, and face no ongoing crisis of confidence in their results. Many of the same safeguards are employed by states in the U.S.
Even in cases where vulnerabilities have been noted, such as reports of undue influence in the UK or problems with diaspora ballots in Hungary, the problems were localized and manageable. They didn’t result in systemic fraud or altered outcomes.
Mail-in voting is not only functional. It's normal. The only places where elections are routinely manipulated are the very countries Trump now appears to be taking advice from.
The Collapse of the So-Called Evidence
Trump’s policy push is rooted in a discredited narrative, repeated so often that it begins to sound familiar even as it falls apart under every form of scrutiny.
Take 2000 Mules, the Dinesh D’Souza documentary that claimed to show widespread ballot harvesting in the 2020 election. It used questionable geolocation data and cherry-picked surveillance footage to weave a conspiracy. Then it fell apart.
Salem Media, which published the film and accompanying book, has now pulled both from circulation. D’Souza himself issued a rare apology after falsely accusing a Georgia man of election crimes. There was no organized ballot trafficking scheme. There was no "mule network." There was no fraud.
This is the same playbook that led to defamation settlements with Dominion Voting Systems. First Fox News, then Newsmax — both paid out to avoid trials that would have exposed even more deliberate misinformation. On the same day Trump doubled down on that narrative, Newsmax was cutting its eight-figure check.
The irony would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous.
Vladimir Putin: Defender of Democracy?
Of all the figures Trump could cite to support his crusade against voting rights, he chose Vladimir Putin, a man who has ruled Russia for over two decades through fraudulent elections, brutal crackdowns, and manipulation of constitutional law.
Putin’s elections are not elections in any meaningful sense. They are rituals of control. Ballot stuffing, opposition suppression, and falsified turnout numbers are routine. In 2024, analysts estimated that over 20 million votes for Putin were likely fabricated.
Putin’s interest in mail-in voting isn’t rooted in fairness. It’s rooted in destabilization. U.S. intelligence has repeatedly confirmed that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to benefit Trump and has continued efforts to undermine American democracy through misinformation and polarization.
So when Trump says Putin agrees with him that mail-in ballots are the problem, it’s not a badge of credibility. It’s a confession of intent.
The Myth of Presidential Power Over Ballots
It’s not just that Trump’s claims are false. They’re unconstitutional. The power to shape mail-in ballots and voting methods belongs to the states, not the president. U.S. elections are decentralized by design, administered not by one powerful executive, but by thousands of local and state officials.
The Constitution’s Elections Clause is clear: "The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof," granting Congress only the power to oversee federal elections, not the president. Further, the midterms, which Trump explicitly referenced in his timeline for an executive order, are not federal elections.
State governors, secretaries of state, and election officials—not the White House—are responsible for running elections. Their role includes everything from drafting ballots to certifying results.
It’s no surprise, then, that courts have consistently blocked Trump’s efforts to issue sweeping election orders. His executive directives, designed to ban mail ballots or impose rigid submission deadlines, were struck down as unconstitutional overreach. The judicial system reaffirmed that federal authority over the mechanics of elections simply doesn’t exist.
What This Is Really About
This isn’t about election integrity. It never has been.
It’s about undermining faith in the democratic process to justify minority rule. It’s about planting enough doubt that losing doesn’t have to mean stepping down. It’s about replacing facts with fear, and using that fear to seize power.
Every serious investigation has reached the same conclusion: voter fraud is rare, mail-in ballots are secure, and voting machines are reliable. Yet the Big Lie lives on, not because it’s true, but because it’s useful.
And now, as one part of the right-wing media empire pays a steep price for lying about elections, the man at the center of it all is preparing to write those lies into policy.
That’s not just hypocrisy. It’s a warning.
What You Can Do
Trump’s latest attempt to dismantle voting access is more than unconstitutional. It’s a preview of how the Big Lie could become federal policy unless we stop it.
This moment demands more than outrage. It demands action.
Call Congress
Let your representatives know you expect them to speak out — loudly — against any attempt to federalize election suppression.
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224‑3121
Ask to be connected to your Senator or House Representative.
Sample Script:
Hi, my name is [Your Name], and I'm a constituent from [Your City, State]. I'm calling to urge [Senator/Representative Name] to publicly oppose Donald Trump’s proposal to ban mail-in ballots and voting machines. These efforts are based on disproven conspiracy theories and violate the constitutional authority of the states. I want [him/her/them] to stand up for free, fair, and secure elections, and to defend the voting rights of every American. Thank you.
Support the Organizations Defending Democracy
Consider donating to or volunteering with these frontline groups:
States United Democracy Center – statesuniteddemocracy.org
Brennan Center for Justice – brennancenter.org
Common Cause – commoncause.org
Fair Fight Action – fairfight.com
These watchdogs and grassroots organizations are tracking disinformation, litigating voter suppression, and fighting to protect access to the ballot box.
Stand Up, Speak Out, Stay Loud
Trump’s attack on mail-in voting is part of a broader, coordinated assault on democracy. But democracy only breaks if we let it.
Call. Share. Donate. Organize.
We don’t need Putin to tell us how to run our elections.
We need Americans — informed, vocal, and unrelenting — to protect them.
Don’t let the bastards sneak anything past you. Subscribe and get your daily dose of rage and receipts delivered fresh, before the spin doctors can scrub it.
Bibliography:
“Newsmax settles Dominion defamation case for $67 million, says it couldn't get fair trial .” Reuters, August 18, 2025.
“Conservative Network Newsmax Agrees to Pay $67M in Defamation Case over Bogus 2020 Election Claims.” Associated Press, August 18, 2025.
Riccardi, Nicholas, and Ali Swenson. “Trump Vows to Change How Elections Are Run. The U.S. Constitution doesn’t give him that power.” WHYY, August 18, 2025.
“Trump Vows to Try Banning Mail‑In Voting Before 2026 Midterm Elections.” Reuters, August 18, 2025.
The Heritage Foundation. Election Fraud Map: A Sampling of Proven Instances of Election Fraud Across the U.S. Last updated July 28, 2025.
“Election Fraud Database Tops 1,400 Cases.” Heritage Foundation, January 18, 2023.
Mehrbani, R. Heritage Fraud Database: An Assessment. Brennan Center for Justice, NYU School of Law. (Circa 2017)
“How Widespread Is Election Fraud in the United States? Not Very.” Brookings Institution, October 28, 2024.
“Electoral Fraud in the United States.” Wikipedia.
“2000 Mules.” Wikipedia.
“2,000 Mules Director Apologizes to Man Falsely Accused of Voter Fraud in Film.” The Guardian, December 3, 2024.
Wells, Dylan. “Trump Says He Will ‘Lead a Movement’ to Eliminate Mail‑In Voting.” The Washington Post, August 18, 2025.
Read, Tobias (Oregon Secretary of State) quoted in “Trump Wants to End Mail‑In Voting. Oregon Democrats Say…” OPB, August 18, 2025.
Time. “Trump Says Only the U.S. Votes by Mail. Here Are the Facts.” August 18, 2025.
Wikipedia. “2021 Russian Legislative Election.”
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Trumps actions are so incredibly shameful.
Freakin incredible that this idiot president thinks we should take lessons on democracy from Putin!