Trump explains voting by mail: 'I'm president' with 'a lot' going on
President Donald Trump confirmed he voted by mail in Florida's special election Tuesday, but he pivoted from the media attack point to note his mail-in ballot reform agenda provides for "exceptions" — and not only because he has the privilege of being president.
"Yeah, I did," Trump shot back at a reporter Thursday at his second Cabinet meeting of 2026. "You know what? Because I'm president of the United States."
"And because of the fact that I'm president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida because I felt I should be here instead of being in the beautiful sunshine."
The reporter noted Trump was at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, before the Palm Beach County election held Tuesday for a state senator and a state representative.
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"That's right, and I decided that I was going to vote by mail-in ballot because I couldn't be there," Trump said, adding, "I had a lot of different things" going on.
Trump was at Mar-a-Lago for the weekend, in Memphis, Tennessee, on Monday for a forum on crime, and then back in Washington, D.C., for the rest of the week, including delivering a speech to the National Republican Congressional Committee on Wednesday night.
Still, Trump proudly reminded the reporter, he is not being hypocritical in rebuking mail-in ballot fraud while voting by mail.
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"You know, we have exceptions for mail-in ballots," Trump said. "You do know that, right? So if you're away, you have an exception. If you're in the military, we have an exception. If you're on a business trip, we have an exception. If you're disabled, we have an exception. And if you're ill, if you're not feeling good.
"So I was away mostly in Washington, D.C., so I used a mail-in ballot."
Trump rebuked voting by mail as "mail-in cheating" at his Memphis stop.
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"I call it mail-in cheating, and we got to do something about it all," Trump said. "And it's part of Homeland Security."
Trump said Sunday his fellow Republicans should not reach an agreement on funding the Department of Homeland Security until Democrats in Congress approve a bill – the SAVE America Act – that requires people registering to vote to provide proof of U.S. citizenship.
Trump also pushed for Democratic approval of other items he wants added to the bill, including banning transgender women from women's sports, outlawing "transgender mutilation of our children" and restricting mail-in ballots except in cases of illness, disability, military service or travel.
"As President Trump has said, the SAVE America Act has commonsense exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, disability, military, or travel – but universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it’s highly susceptible to fraud," White House spokesperson Olivia Wales wrote in an email earlier this week.
It was not the first time Trump has voted by mail. He voted by absentee ballot in the 2018 midterm elections, a White House spokesperson said at the time. Trump had requested an absentee ballot but decided to vote in person in 2020.
Reuters contributed to this report.