Vladimir Putin told Donald Trump that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged because of mail-in voting.
Posted by Bulwark Takes, Checked
- Sources
- 1 contradict3 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
Bulwark TakesSep 15, 2026
The only account that Putin said this comes from Trump's own description of their Alaska meeting, which Reuters, NBC, PolitiFact and others report without independent confirmation of Putin's words. Fact-checkers do reject the underlying claim that the 2020 election was rigged by mail-in voting, but no source confirms or refutes that Putin said it.
What was said
… Uh, let's also talk, let's also play the clip about where the surprising source of some of this, this is from August 2025, where Trump reveals the world leader, that planted the idea in his head that this is something he's gotta get rid of. Vladimir Putin said something, one of the most interesting things. He said, uh, your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting. He said mail-in voting every election. He said no country has mail-in voting. It's impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections. And he said that to me. It was very interesting because we talked about 2020. …
Bulwark Takes · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. PolitiFact rules that the 2020 election was not rigged and that Trump lost it, which contradicts the content of the alleged statement, though not the fact that Putin said it.[1]
Context. Reuters reports that Trump said Putin remarked that you can't conduct a fair election with mail-in voting, and that Trump's account is the sole basis for the statement attributed to Putin.[2]
Context. NBC News and Axios report Trump's account of Putin saying the election was 'rigged' because of mail-in voting, presenting it as Trump's claim rather than an independently verified exchange.[3][4]
Context. Reporting notes that Putin has previously claimed US elections were tainted by fraud without providing evidence, which is context but does not confirm the specific exchange with Trump.[2]
Sources
4 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 1 tier 2, 1 not rated
- 1Trump said U.S. is the only mail-in voting country. Wrong.politifact.com · fact-checker · cited for: contradicts
- 2Trump says Putin agrees with him US should not have mail-in votingreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Trump reignites his push to ban mail-in voting after meeting with Putinnbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
- 4Trump raises end to mail-in ballots after claiming Putin ...axios.com · not rated · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
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