Donald Trump said that he voted by mail in Florida’s special election because he was working in Washington D.C. and that prevented him from voting in person. Trump has always been very vocal about his dislike of mail-in ballots, and his admission comes as a surprise, as he attacked the practice only days ago.
During a Cabinet meeting, Trump answered reporters’ questions about him casting his vote by mail. “Why did you use it?” a reporter asked him.
He then candidly answered, “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.”
WATCH: President Trump fires back at a reporter who questioned why he used a mail-in ballot.
REPORTER: “Why did you use it?”
TRUMP: “Because I’m President of the United States.” pic.twitter.com/FqZItFuTL7
— Fox News (@FoxNews) March 26, 2026
The reporter then pointed out that over the last few weekends he had been in Palm Beach. Trump often visits his Mar-a-Lago estate when taking a break from Washington. “That’s right,” he admitted before continuing, “I decided that I was going to vote by mail-in ballot because I couldn’t be there, because I had a lot of different things.”
If you could not cast an in-person vote on the day of the elections, provision had been made for in-person early voting from March 14-27. Trump had been in town during that period, but had decided not to cast his vote at that time.
The admission came as a surprise because Trump has often attacked those who prefer mail-in voting. As recently as Monday, while attending a roundtable discussion for a safety program in Memphis, he criticized the method. He stated, “Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating. I call it mail-in cheating.”
Trump provided another explanation as to why he decided to cast his ballot by post. He pointed out, “We have exceptions for mail-in ballots. You do know that right?” He continued, “So if you’re away, we have an exception. If you’re in the military, we have an exception. If you are on a business trip, we have an exception.” He said that you also have an exception if you have a disability or are ill.
He then provided his reason as to why he thought he qualified for an exception. “I was away, mostly in Washington D.C., so I used a mail-in ballot,” the 79-year-old said.
Trump: “I hate mail-in ballots because, basically, it’s a way of cheating.”
(Trump voted by mail this week in the Florida special election, where the candidate he endorsed lost) pic.twitter.com/Yf9tH16ppb
— FactPost (@factpostnews) March 26, 2026
However, Trump asked and got his mail-in ballot on Saturday, March 14 while at Mar-a-Lago. Trump actually cast his mail-in vote from Palm Beach the very next day. He did not mail it from another location.
The White House has not officially released a statement about why Trump did not cast his vote in-person while he was in Florida. Instead Olivia Wales, who is the spokesperson, labeled the incident as a “non story,” stating, “As everyone knows, the President is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C.,” Wales said in a statement. She called this report “a non-story.”
The vote took place on Tuesday, while Trump swore in Markwayne Mullin as the new DHS chief. Interestingly, Democrat Emily Gregory defeated Republican Jon Maples in the special election. Trump had endorsed Maples in his run.
