On October 24 local time, U.S. President Donald Trump voted early in Palm Beach, Florida, in preparation for the mid-term elections scheduled for November 3. It is worth noting that Trump chose to vote early, despite his previous doubts about the safety of early voting and his call for only a one-day on-site voting on election day.
Bloomberg reports that during the campaign rallys leading up to the election day, Trump has been urging Republican voters to vote early. Behind this shift in position lies the pressure that the Republican Party faces in this mid-term election: the party needs to work hard to retain control of both houses of the U.S. Congress. In response to reporters' questions about whether he would vote based on party affiliation, Trump replied, "Of course, definitely."
Trump has long questioned the safety of voting by mail and, without providing any evidence, claimed there was widespread election fraud in the 2020 presidential elections. On that day, he also told reporters that federal prosecutors had found “potentially tens of thousands of illegal votes”.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice sued California, accusing the state of not participating in verifying the identities of 20,000 individuals suspected of not being American citizens. The Justice Department argued that this move was intended to prevent fraudulent votes from being counted in the election results. California requested a judge to dismiss the request to detain these 20,000 mail-in ballots, and called the alleged charges “a reckless political gimmick.”
Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has been trying to strengthen the federal government's control over U.S. elections, including promoting restrictions on mail voting and requiring voters to present government-issued identification or other civil identity documents.
However, Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate have stated that the ‘Securing American Voters Act’ currently lacks sufficient support to be passed. It is worth noting that Trump has voted by mail several times this year, including in the August 2026 primary election in Florida and a special election in that state earlier this year. In the 2024 presidential elections, he cast his votes in person on the day of the election.
