President Donald Trump announced on Monday that he plans to sign an executive order ahead of next year’s midterm elections, declaring that he will lead “a movement” aimed at eliminating mail-in voting and scrutinising voting machines across the country.

“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly “Inaccurate,” Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES,” he stated in a social media post, without offering evidence to support his claims.

“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,” he added.

Trump had previously signed an executive order related to elections on March 25, but it was blocked in court after lawsuits from Democrat-led states.

Although elections are run independently by each of the 50 states, Trump warned they must comply with federal direction.

“Remember, the States are merely an “agent” for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do,” he wrote.

These statements followed a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, during which Trump claimed that Putin agreed with his position on ending mail-in voting.

Trump has long pushed for sweeping changes to the U.S. election system and continues to claim, without substantiation, that he was the rightful winner of the 2020 race. Despite his criticisms of mail-in voting, he has used it in past elections and encouraged his supporters to do so in 2024.