WASHINGTON — The White House has abruptly altered course on President Donald Trump’s vow to have an elite legal team craft an executive order that would end mail-in voting, with a top aide saying the administration would instead forge a legislative path.

Trump has railed against the practice most of his political career, ramping up his lambasting of the practice during and after his unsuccessful 2020 reelection bid. He began the week with an early morning vow to, as he wrote Monday in a 7:17 a.m. social media post, “lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS.”

But his promised “movement,” as he described it, would not stop there. The president wrote that the effort would also target “Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election.”

Trump was asked about his effort to end mail-in voting and rid the election process of the voting machines later Monday during a media availability in the Oval Office.

“We’re going to start with an executive order that’s being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt,” he told reporters.

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday, just over 24 hours later, signaled that the administration had ditched the president’s approach.

“The White House continues to work on this, and when Congress comes back to Washington I’m sure there will be many discussions with our friends on Capitol Hill, and also our friends in state legislatures across the country, to ensure that we’re protecting the integrity of the vote for the American people,” she said. “And I think Republicans generally and the president generally wants to make it easier for Americans to vote and harder for people to cheat in our elections.”

Asked what changed so quickly, and whether Trump had received a legal ruling from within the administration that his office lacked the authority to make such a dramatic election change, a White House spokesman merely lobbed accusations at Democrats and repeated Trump’s 2024 campaign platform on the issue.

“Democrats have eroded faith in our elections with reckless laws, such as unfettered mail-in voting, illegally changing laws to benefit their voters, and slow-walking the counting of votes far past Election Day,” White House principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields wrote in a Tuesday evening email.

“President Trump wants to secure America’s elections and protect the vote, restoring the integrity of our elections by requiring voter ID, ensuring no illegal ballots are cast, and preventing cheating through lax and incompetent voting laws in states like California and New York,” Fields added.

Trump could still sign an executive order on the matter, but Leavitt’s Tuesday answer signaled that the major changes would need to come legislatively.

False claims

Trump used a pair of false claims to support his claim that such a “movement” is needed in the United States.

“We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED,” he wrote on Truth Social, which he owns. “WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections. Remember, the States are merely an “agent” for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes.”

But 33 countries, including the United States, allow some form of mail-in balloting, according to data compiled by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

That includes a dozen that allow the practice for all voters, including the U.S., Canada, Germany, Iceland, New Zealand, Poland and the United Kingdom. Another 21 allow mail-in voting for some voters, including Australia, France, Greenland, Ireland, India, Japan, the Netherlands and Zimbabwe, according to International IDEA.

The president, who has uttered and posted tens of thousands of false and misleading statements since taking office the first time in January 2017, also falsely posted that the sitting president and federal government administer elections in the United States. That work is carried out by state and local governments. When a reporter during a Tuesday briefing noted that in a question to Leavitt, she did not, as she does on many on-camera queries, fire back a pointed retort or claim that the reporter was incorrect.

After telling reporters that the administration would work with Congress and state lawmakers rather than pursue Trump’s promised executive order, she contended it was “quite mind-boggling that the Democrat Party could stand in opposition to common sense.”

“He wants to ensure election integrity. There were great efforts that were made in 2024,” she said, referring to Trump. “But I can assure you this is a priority for the president.”

‘Cling to power’

Trump’s initial social media “movement” pledge came after he on Friday told Fox News commentator Sean Hannity that Russian President Vladimir Putin had brought up America’s mail-in balloting during a summit on the Ukraine conflict in Alaska.

Senate Rules and Administration Committee ranking member Alex Padilla said in a Monday statement that the president was “now taking advice on voter suppression from a murderous dictator who rigs elections, jails political opponents, and persecutes dissent.” (In many U.S. states, the secretary of state oversees elections.)

The California Democrat contended that Trump’s sudden push for a “movement” was a look inside his mind.

“Trump knows the MAGA agenda is unpopular: raising your grocery prices and hiking up your health care premiums, all while handing out tax breaks to billionaires. So he’s resorting to desperate schemes to cling to power,” Padilla said. “Even his preferred news outlets, Newsmax and Fox News, have been forced to answer for pushing conspiracies about voting machines. They admitted what Trump won’t — he lost the 2020 election, and mail-in voting is secure. Fortunately, Trump doesn’t have the power to unilaterally end mail-in voting. But Congress must stand up for free and fair elections as he continues his assault on our democracy.”

Trump has sent mixed signals for months about whether he could try seeking a constitutionally questionable third term. For instance, during an Aug. 5 interview with CNBC, he said he would “probably not” run again. But seconds later, he revealed, “I’d like to run,” adding, “I have the best poll numbers I’ve ever had.”

Democrats have had the advantage in mail-in balloting. For instance, during the 2024 election cycle, 65.7 million mail ballots were requested. Among that number, 44 percent were requested by registered Democrats, with 29 percent requested by Republicans and 27 percent by otherwise-registered voters, according to data analyzed by TargetSmart for NBC News.

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