At first glance, President Trump’s Truth Social post alleging voting fraud did not look especially alarming — not, anyway, by this president’s singular standards. Mr. Trump’s long-debunked lies about stolen elections are no less malignant in 2025 than they were in 2020 and 2021, during his concerted effort to overturn his loss at the polls. Still, by now, persistent repetition has diminished the power of those lies to shock.
And yet something quite shocking did emerge from a second journey through the mangled syntax of Mr. Trump’s diatribe against “MAIL-IN BALLOTS” and “VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER.”
Buried in the long harangue was an announcement: The president had a plan to “get rid of” election procedures that he alleged were scams. He intended to dictate, apparently by executive order, how states should count and tabulate the votes.
This was stunning. The only modern president who had refused to concede a certified election defeat now proclaimed his authority over election rules nationwide. Mr. Trump vowed that he wanted nothing more than to “help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.” Having tried his best once to undermine our constitutional system, Mr. Trump is the last American — literally or near enough — who should be entrusted to supervise the integrity of the vote.
As widely noted, the executive order that he described would be nakedly unconstitutional. Article I, Section 4 explicitly directs that “the times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.” The same passage grants Congress the power to override those laws. The president has no lawful role, save to sign any new legislation.
Later that day, Mr. Trump told reporters that “the best lawyers” were drafting his executive order “right now.” But the next day the White House appeared to backpedal. Without saying anything concrete, the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, left reporters with the impression that the president was shifting focus to making the changes he wants in collaboration with Congress and state governments.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Trump’s Stunning Attack on Mail-In Ballots appeared first on New York Times.
