U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that Russian President Vladimir Putin shares his view that voting by mail poses a significant risk to election integrity. Trump made the remarks following a nearly three-hour meeting with the Russian leader in Alaska, using the asserted agreement to amplify his pressure on Republicans to pursue voting system overhauls.
Speaking to Fox News Channel’s “Hannity,” Trump claimed Putin was unequivocal in his position on the issue.
“Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can’t have an honest election with mail-in voting,” Trump stated. “He said there’s not a country in the world that uses it now.”
The president, who has consistently promoted the false narrative of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, pointed to his discussion with Putin as further justification for his push for new election laws in the U.S. “The Republicans want it, but not strongly enough,” Trump said. “You can’t have a great democracy with mail-in voting.”
The statement comes even as Trump has previously voted by mail and encouraged his own supporters to utilize the method in the 2024 election.
The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately comment on the reported conversation.
President Putin, who has led Russia since 1999, secured another term this year with a declared 87% of the vote. That election was widely criticized by Western governments and independent observers, who cited allegations of vote rigging and the suppression of political opposition, highlighted by the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an Arctic prison earlier in the year.
The conversation touches on a sensitive history between the two nations regarding election security. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that Moscow interfered in the 2016 and 2020 U.S. elections in an effort to help Trump’s campaigns.
Contrary to the claim cited by President Trump, data from the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance shows that nearly three dozen countries, including Canada, Germany, and South Korea, permit some form of mail-in or postal voting.
