They're Coming for Your Ballot: How †rump's Five-Year Assault on Mail-In Voting Ends With the SAVE Act
- Kal Inois
- 2 days ago
- 13 min read
From a Fox Business confession in August 2020 to a bill now moving through the United States Senate, this is the documented record of one man's systematic campaign to eliminate the voting method that threatens his party's grip on power — and why November 2026 is the deadline to stop it.
~20 minute read
On August 13, 2020, Donold †rump sat down with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo and confessed. Not to a crime. To a plan. He said, on camera, that he was blocking $25 billion in U.S. Postal Service funding — specifically because, without it, "they can't have universal mail-in voting. They just can't have it." He didn't misspeak. He didn't walk it back. He said it again, more clearly, moments later. The confession was broadcast nationally, archived by every major news organization, and is available on video to this day. And yet five years later — with primaries already underway, with courts already blocking his latest assault, with the 2026 midterms eightd months away — the same man is still trying.
✦ PART ONE – He Used to Support It — Until It Threatened to Beat Him
Donold †rump did not always hate mail-in voting. For years, he used it himself — voting by mail in Florida — and his party actively encouraged it as a turnout tool. Republican National Committee voter guides as recently as 2019 promoted absentee voting as a convenience and a right. NPR
Then came COVID-19. States expanded mail-in voting to protect public health during a pandemic.
Participation surged. And †rump's internal polling showed him losing.
That is the moment the rhetoric changed. Not because fraud suddenly appeared. No evidence of widespread fraud in mail-in voting has ever been documented, in any state, in any election. Brennan Center
The moment the rhetoric changed is the moment †rump realized that more voters meant fewer Republican wins. He said so himself, on camera, in March 2020, months before a single mail ballot had been cast in that election cycle:
"They had things — levels of voting that if you'd ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again."— Donald †rump, Fox News interview, March 2020 · Washington Post
That sentence is the entire story. Everything that followed: the USPS sabotage, the 62 dismissed lawsuits, the January 6 assault on the Capitol, and now the SAVE America Act. It all flows from that one admission.
This was never about fraud. It was always about power.
✦ PART TWO – The Timeline: From First Tweet to Federal Courts
What follows is the documented record of †rump's war on mail-in voting — assembled from his own words, his own people's testimony, news reporting, and court records. Every entry is sourced. Every quote is real.
Mar 2020
He admits the real reason — on Fox News
Asked about Democrats' push for mail-in voting funding in a COVID relief bill, †rump tells Fox News the bill has "levels of voting that, if you ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again." [Washington Post]
Jul 21, 2020
The "#RIGGEDELECTION" tweet — 105 days before Election Day
†rump tweets: "Mail-In Voting, unless changed by the courts, will lead to the most CORRUPT ELECTION in our Nation's History! #RIGGEDELECTION." No evidence of fraud is cited. None exists. The goal is to pre-emptively discredit the result. [NPR]
Jul 21, 2020
McEnany calls it a "dark omen" while having voted by mail 11 times
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany calls New York's mail-in results an "absolute catastrophe" and a "dark omen for November" — from the White House podium. She had voted by mail in every Florida election since 2010 — 11 times in 10 years. [NPR]
Aug 13, 2020
The Fox Business confession — on camera, in his own words
†rump tells Maria Bartiromo he is blocking $25 billion in USPS funding specifically to prevent mail ballot processing: "Now they need that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots... if they don't get those two items, that means you can't have universal mail-in voting." [NPR] [Washington Post] [Slate]
Aug 24, 2020
DeJoy tells Congress "I am not engaged in sabotaging the election"
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a $2.7 million †rump donor, swears to Congress he is not sabotaging the election. Simultaneously, he refuses to restore decommissioned mail-sorting machines and announces he will resume mail-slowing cost cuts after Election Day. Rep. Jim Cooper asks: "Is your backup plan to be pardoned like Roger Stone?" †rump tweets the same morning that fraud "WILL occur." [Reuters]
Sep 20-21, 2020
"It's going to be mayhem. It's going to be bedlam."
†rump tells Fox News' Life, Liberty & Levin that mail-in voting will produce "mayhem" and "bedlam" — and says "this is what they want." He was not predicting chaos. He was announcing it. [Washington Post]
Sep 22, 2020
Russia, FBI, and CIA — all saying the same thing on the same day
The New York Times reports Russia's troll farms have outsourced their 2020 disinformation to †rump's own mail ballot statements. The same day, the FBI and CISA jointly warn the public about foreign actors exploiting mail counting delays — the exact narrative †rump had been running for months. And the CIA concludes Putin is personally directing interference to help †rump, whose administration had already fired acting DNI Joseph Maguire for briefing Congress on it. [NPR] [Reuters]
Nov 4, 2020 2:30am
"We want all voting to stop."
With Election Day leads still intact from in-person votes, †rump declares victory and calls to stop counting — exactly as the FBI had warned six weeks earlier that foreign actors would do. His own campaign manager had told him days before that mail-in ballots would close the gap. He exploited it anyway. [Washington Post]
Nov 7-12, 2020
The system holds. Every †rump claim collapses.
Intelligence agencies reaffirm zero evidence of foreign ballot printing. Arizona hand-count audits find no discrepancies. Georgia's 159 counties begin recounting 5 million ballots publicly. Sheldon Adelson's own newspaper, the first to endorse †rump in 2016, writes: "The president does a disservice to his more rabid supporters by insisting that he would have won absent voter fraud. That's simply false." [Washington Post]
Nov 19, 2020
Giuliani's press conference — Fox News calls it false, on Fox News' own air
Giuliani claims Venezuela, Hugo Chavez (dead since 2013), and Dominion voting machines rigged the election. Fox News' own White House correspondent Kristin Fisher says live on air: "So much of what he said was simply not true or has already been thrown out in court." That same day, a †rump campaign attorney tells an Arizona judge: "This is not a fraud case." [NPR]
Jan 6, 2021
The Capitol
Having filed 62 lawsuits and won zero, having been told by his own campaign manager, his own biggest donor, his own FBI director, and his own lawyers in court that the fraud claims were false, †rump incites a mob to stop the certification of the mail-in ballots that defeated him.
Aug 2025
"Mail-in ballots are corrupt," citing Putin, in the Oval Office
In an Oval Office meeting with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, a man whose country is fighting Russia, †rump announces plans to ban mail-in voting by executive order. His justification: "Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said 'you can't have an honest election with mail-in voting.'" [Democracy Docket]
Feb 19, 2026
"We'll never lose a race. For 50 years, we won't lose a race."
At a steel plant in Rome, Georgia, †rump tells the crowd what this has always been about: "Mail-in ballots are crooked as hell... Republicans have to win this one. We'll never lose a race for 50 years, we won't lose a race." [Democracy Docket] [Common Cause]
✦ PART THREE – The Russia Connection
On September 22, 2020, three separate stories broke on the same day that — read together — establish something that was never fully assembled in one place at the time.
NEW YORK TIMES — SEPTEMBER 22, 2020
Reporters David Sanger and Zolan Kanno-Youngs reported that Russia's troll farms had largely stopped generating original disinformation — because they didn't need to. They were amplifying †rump's own statements about mail-in ballots directly. Intelligence officials were simultaneously battling an effort by †rump and his advisers to frame China and Iran as equal threats, a framing that ran counter to their own intelligence assessments. NPR
FBI & CISA JOINT STATEMENT — SEPTEMBER 22, 2020
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency jointly warned the public that foreign actors would likely exploit delays in mail ballot counting to spread disinformation about election results, the exact narrative †rump had been running for months. They were warning the public about foreign actors doing what the sitting president was already doing domestically. Reuters
CIA ASSESSMENT — SEPTEMBER 22, 2020
CIA concluded that Vladimir Putin was personally directing election interference aimed at boosting †rump's reelection chances. This was consistent with an earlier intelligence briefing to Congress, the one that led †rump to fire acting DNI Joseph Maguire for delivering it. †rump's response to being told Russia was helping him: fire the messenger. NPR
On a single day in September 2020: Russia was amplifying †rump's script. The FBI was warning the public about foreign actors running †rump's playbook. And the CIA had concluded Putin was personally directing it. Five years later, †rump announced his plan to ban mail-in voting and cited a conversation with Vladimir Putin as his justification.
✦ PART FOUR – His Own People Called It False
The most powerful rebuttal of †rump's mail-in ballot fraud narrative does not come from Democrats, journalists, or academics. It comes from the people closest to him.
"He is not likely to succeed, but the toxic effects on U.S. democracy will not soon dissipate. †rump is attempting to overturn the lawful results of a free election by spreading lies."— The Washington Post editorial, November 12, 2020 · Washington Post
"The president does a disservice to his more rabid supporters by insisting that he would have won the Nov. 3 election absent voter fraud. That's simply false."— Las Vegas Review-Journal editorial, owned by †rump supporter and megadonor Sheldon Adelson — the first newspaper to endorse †rump in 2016 · November 12, 2020
"That was certainly a colorful news conference from Rudy Giuliani but it was light on facts. So much of what he said was simply not true or has already been thrown out in court."— Fox News White House correspondent Kristin Fisher, on Fox News' own air · November 19, 2020 · NPR
"We are not alleging fraud in this lawsuit. We are not alleging anyone stealing the election."— †rump campaign attorney Kory Langhofer, to an Arizona federal judge · November 12, 2020 — the same day McEnany was claiming fraud on Fox News
"I'm more troubled by the fact that other Republican officials who clearly know better are going along with this, are humoring him in this fashion. It is one more step in delegitimizing not just the incoming Biden Administration, but democracy generally. And that's a dangerous path."— President Barack Obama, CBS 60 Minutes · November 12, 2020 · NPR
Obama said "dangerous path" on November 12, 2020. January 6 was 55 days later.
✦ PART FIVE – The 2026 Endgame — Happening Right Now
This is not history. Every piece of what follows is happening right now, with primaries already underway and the 2026 midterms eight months away.
He Said the Quiet Part Out Loud — Again
"They had things, levels of voting that if you'd ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again."— Donald †rump, on mail-in voting access · Common Cause
He said this in 2020. He is still saying it in 2026 — more openly, to larger crowds, with the legislative infrastructure and a Supreme Court majority to back it up. The operation that failed in 2020 is being reassembled with better tools and less resistance.
"The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. The Republicans should say, 'We want to take over.' We should take over the voting in at least — many — fifteen places."— Donald †rump, podcast interview, 2025-2026 · Common Cause
The Hypocrisy That Has Never Changed
Donold †rump voted by mail in Florida. Kayleigh McEnany voted by mail 11 times. RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel voted by mail while suing to eliminate it. The entire apparatus attacking mail-in voting as fraudulent has been using mail-in voting throughout. †rump had no complaints about mail-in ballots when he won the presidency in 2024. Finviz/AURN
The Courts Are Blocking Him, But the Supreme Court Looms
Three federal courts have already blocked †rump's March 2025 executive order on elections as unconstitutional. One judge stated plainly: the Constitution gives Congress and the states — not the president — the power to regulate federal elections. CAP
But the Supreme Court, now with Barrett, Gorsuch, Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh, is currently considering a challenge to Mississippi's law allowing properly postmarked ballots to be counted if received within days of Election Day. In 2024, 19 jurisdictions counted mail ballots that arrived after Election Day. In 2026, as few as zero might, depending on the court's ruling.
The SAVE America Act — The 2020 Playbook in a New Form
In 2020, †rump tried to kill mail-in voting by starving the Post Office. That failed. Courts stopped it. Congress funded it. 160 million Americans voted anyway.
So now he has a new instrument. Congressional Republicans have rebranded the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act as the SAVE America Act. This bill that would require all 211 million registered American voters to re-register in person, proving citizenship with a passport or birth certificate, before the 2026 midterms. CAP Forty-seven percent of Americans don't have a valid U.S. passport. Getting one costs more than $130. Democratic Rep. Julie Johnson of Texas called it a "poll tax."
†rump told us exactly what it is for. At a steel plant in Rome, Georgia, on February 19, 2026:
"Republicans have to win this one. We'll never lose a race. For 50 years, we won't lose a race." Democracy Docket Common Cause
Not election security. Not fraud prevention. The Heritage Foundation, the organization behind Prøjeçt 2025, has documented just 100 instances of noncitizen voter fraud since the year 2000. †rump's own Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity was disbanded in 2018 after finding no widespread evidence. CAP
The burden does not fall on fraudsters. It falls on eligible voters: married women whose names changed, rural residents, tribal citizens, seniors, and working people without easy access to records. The Brennan Center estimates that more than 21 million Americans lack ready access to the documents the SAVE Act demands. Brennan Center
This is not a side effect of the bill. It is the bill.
✦ CONCLUSION – The Through-Line
From a Fox Business confession in August 2020 to a Georgia steel plant in February 2026, the argument has never changed. It is a single sentence, spoken in †rump's own voice, across six years:
"If you ever agreed to it, you'd never have a Republican elected in this country again."— DONALD †RUMP, MARCH 2020.
STILL TRUE. STILL THE POINT.
He didn't fight mail-in voting because it was fraudulent. His own FBI director said it wasn't. His own campaign manager said it wasn't. His own lawyers told courts it wasn't. His own biggest donor's newspaper said it wasn't. Sixty-two courts agreed it wasn't.
He fought it because it worked. Because it let people vote who otherwise couldn't. Because it processed the voices of 160 million Americans, the largest electoral participation in more than a century, and those voices said no.
And now, with primaries already underway, with a Supreme Court ruling on mail ballot deadlines pending, with the SAVE America Act being rammed through Congress by threatening to "nuke" the filibuster, with three courts already having blocked one unconstitutional executive order and a second one being drafted, with †rump telling House Republicans that the goal is to "guarantee the midterms" — the same operation that failed in 2020 is being reassembled with better tools, more power, and less resistance.
The question is not whether this is happening. It is documented in †rump's own Fox Business interview, in 62 dismissed court cases, in his own tweets, in the FBI and CIA assessments, in his own speech at a Georgia steel plant six weeks ago, and in a bill now moving through the United States Senate.
The question is what we do about it.
What You Can Do Before November 2026
Outrage without action is noise. Here is a specific, actionable menu.
1 - Verify Your Registration Now
Before any new rules take effect. Check your status and make sure you're registered under current law.
→ vote.gov — check your registration, every 30 days to avoid inadvertently being purged
2 - Contact Your Legislators
Demand opposition to the SAVE America Act. Be specific. Cite the courts that have already blocked this as unconstitutional.
3 - Get Into Election Administration
The people running 2026 elections need oversight, witnesses, and workers. You can be one of them.
4 - Share This Information
And share this. The people who need to read it most are the ones who don't know this is happening
Sources
Washington Post: "Trump Blurts Out His True Motive on Post Office, Mail Voting," Aug 13 2020 — washingtonpost.com
Washington Post: "Trump Says Postal Service Needs Money for the Election. He's Threatening to Block It," Aug 13 2020 — washingtonpost.com
NPR: "Trump Admits to Opposing Funding for Postal Service to Block More Voting by Mail," Aug 13 2020 — npr.org
NPR: "Trump Repeats Unfounded Claims About Mail-In Voting, Threatens Funding to 2 States," May 2020 — npr.org
NPR: "Trump, While Attacking Mail Voting, Casts Mail Ballot Again," Aug 19 2020 — npr.org
NPR: "Lawmakers Troubled By Postal Service Delays As Election Looms," Aug 15 2020 — npr.org
NPR: "Ignoring FBI And Fellow Republicans, Trump Continues Assault On Mail-In Voting," Aug 28 2020 — npr.org
NPR: "Russia Doesn't Have To Make Fake News: Biggest Election Threat Is Closer To Home," Sep 29 2020 — npr.org
NPR: "Despite More Than 2 Dozen Legal Losses, Trump's Lawyers Press On With Election Fights," Nov 19 2020 — npr.org
Slate: "Trump Admits He's Blocking USPS Funding," Aug 13 2020 — slate.com
ABC7: "Trump Admits He's Blocking Additional USPS Funding to Stop Mail-In Votes," Aug 13 2020 — abc7.com
Reuters: "U.S. Postal Service Tells Congress Delivery Performance Has Improved," Aug 31 2020 — reuters.com
Democracy Docket: "Trump: Republicans Will Never Lose If SAVE America Act Passes," 2026 — democracydocket.com
Center for American Progress: "The SAVE America Act Explained: How the New 'Show Your Papers' Voting Bill Is Even More Extreme," 2026 — americanprogress.org
Center for American Progress: "The Trump Administration Has No Legal Authority to Invoke National Security and Take Over Elections," 2025 — americanprogress.org
Common Cause: "Three Times Trump Admitted the SAVE Act Is a GOP Power Play," 2026 — commoncause.org
ABC News: "Senate Expected to Take Up SAVE America Act This Week," 2026 — abcnews.go.com
Brennan Center for Justice: "Brennan Center Letter to the Senate Opposing the SAVE America Act," Mar 17 2026 — brennancenter.org
Brennan Center for Justice: "Election Security — No Evidence of Widespread Mail-In Ballot Fraud" — brennancenter.org
DOJ Epstein File Library — corroborating context: mail-in voting news found in Epstein personal email archive, 2020 — justice.gov/epstein