Trump’s Mail-in Voting Order Hit With Massive Pushback in Blue States

Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail-in voting is already being challenged by states, while election experts say it’s dead on arrival.

Trump signed an executive order Tuesday requiring the Department of Homeland Security to partner with the Social Security Administration to assemble a list of verified U.S. citizens who are eligible to vote. The order also directs the U.S. Postal Service to bar anyone not included on these lists from receiving a mail-in or absentee ballot. Mail ballots are required to be packaged in special envelopes with trackable barcodes.

The order also empowered Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate states and localities that give ballots to ineligible voters.

Trump called the order “foolproof” while signing it Tuesday evening, but states are already fighting back, Time reported Wednesday.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows called the order “laughably unconstitutional,” and promised there was no way her state would “obey in advance.” Despite Trump’s calls for Republicans to nationalize elections, the U.S. Constitution empowers states to run their own elections.

Nevada Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar also condemned the order, claiming it was just another attempt by Trump to undermine free and fair elections. “The President has spent years attempting to manufacture a crisis around mail voting when there is none. Any claims that there is widespread fraud in our elections are false and create chaos and confusion for voters in the middle of an election year,” he said in a statement.

Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes released a statement calling the order a “disgusting overreach” to “weaponize the sensitive information of voters in this country.”

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read called the order a “desperate, illegal power grab,” adding, “My message to the president: We’ll see you in court.”

Marc Elias, founder of Democracy Docket, also announced his intention to challenge the order. “We know where this will go—the targeting of Democrats for mass disenfranchisement. We will sue and we will win,” he wrote on X.

Others election experts had a more laissez-faire attitude. David Becker, executive director for the Center for Election Innovation & Research, said that Trump’s order was a total nonstarter. “Some may freak out about this, but honestly, this is hilarious,” Becker told MS NOW. “He might as well sign an EO banning gravity.”

It’s worth noting that Trump recently voted by mail in a Palm Beach election won by a Democrat. Trump’s executive order comes as Republicans are attempting to pass the SAVE America Act, which would prohibit universal mail-in voting. Under the new legislation, voters would have to submit an application to receive a mail-in ballot.

Donald Trump’s presidential library will probably have very little to do with books and reading.

Trump shared a mock-up of the facility to his Truth Social account Sunday night, teasing a new glass skyscraper on the Miami skyline labeled “Donald J. Trump Presidential Library.” Renderings of the building included a red, white, and blue needle on top, a U.S. flag hanging down the side, and a gargantuan plane on the first floor that resembles the super luxury jumbo jet Qatar gifted him last year.

Speaking with reporters at the White House Tuesday, Trump directly addressed the proposed development, flatly admitting that his presidential library will probably not be a library at all.

“It’s a huge skyscraper—is that all a library?” asked a journalist.

“Well, it’s a library. It’s a museum, a library, it’s presidential,” Trump said. “But I wouldn’t start until I’m out of office. I don’t believe in building libraries or museums.”

Trump then went on to insult Barack Obama’s presidential library in Chicago, calling it “a very unattractive building” that’s in a “bad location.”

“I think you’re going to see a great one here,” Trump said, adding that he believes it will be built in the “best block in Miami.”

“Will people live on the floors?” asked another reporter.

“No, it’s going to most likely be a hotel, you know this concept could be an office but it’s most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Airforce One in the lobby. It’ll be a trick,” Trump said.

Presidential libraries are typically built with private donations and managed by the National Archives and Records Administration. No such library ever erected in honor of a former president has featured a hotel.

It’s far from the first time that Trump has attempted to use his power and political prestige as a get-rich-quick scheme. Trump’s long list of election-year hustles included launching a remarkably ugly sneaker and a limited-edition, $60 God Bless the USA Bible co-promoted by “God Bless the USA” singer Lee Greenwood, which was ultimately forced on Oklahoma public schools by their MAGA superintendent.

And last month—just two weeks into the Iran war—Trump issued a fundraising email to his supporters that promised a “National Security Briefing Membership” in exchange for their cash.

Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump were booed at the prestigious national theater the president has spent months running into the ground.

While attending the opening night of Chicago at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday, Trump appeared to receive a mixed reaction from the audience.

One video posted by PatriotTakes on X showed Trump and Melania standing in the mezzanine at the Kennedy Center receiving some applause and some loud boos.

In a 31-second clip posted by Rapid Response 47, the boos are much less audible, until the last 10 seconds.

CNN reported that Trump received a “warm reception” compared to when he attended the opening show of Les Misérables in June, when he was protested by drag performers.

The Daily Caller’s Reagan Reese wrote on X that there had been two warring factions in the audience. “President Trump enters the Kennedy Center to loud cheers. Some boos, but the crowd drowned them out with more cheers,” she wrote.

Earlier this year, Trump announced that he planned to shutter the Kennedy Center for two years for “Construction, Revitalization, and Complete Rebuilding.”

Many have speculated that the planned temporary closure is an attempt by Trump to save face after his takeover of the institution—including renaming it the “Trump-Kennedy Center”—led to a sharp decline in ticket sales and multiple artists canceling shows.

The Trump administration is going to restore funding to Planned Parenthood, and conservatives are not happy.

Right-wing media outlet The Daily Wire reported Tuesday that the White House will continue Biden-era grants to the family planning organization for another year, but end them after that.

“The administration has issued the fifth and final year of Title X grants that were locked in place during the Biden presidency,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai told the outlet. “The administration faced significant legal challenges in stopping any of these dollars from going out.”

Planned Parenthood has long been targeted by the right for its abortion and contraception services, even though it provides many other vital health programs, and the Trump administration’s decision immediately drew a backlash.

“This is an inexplicable slap in the face to the pro-life GOP base,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of SBA Pro-Life America, told The Daily Wire. “Three out of 4 GOP base voters support defunding Planned Parenthood. One third of those voters say they’d be less enthusiastic about voting this November if the GOP abandons pro-life policies.”

Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America (who graduated from college more than two decades ago), complained on X Monday night that she and other abortion opponents were told that the funding would continue because “the rules require it.”

“Let’s talk about that,” Hawkins posted. “If we are going to claim we must follow ‘the rules’ to fund abortion vendors, then we should also enforce the law that prohibits mailing Chemical Abortion Pills. The Comstock Act is already federal law, and it makes it ILLEGAL to traffic dangerous abortion drugs by mail.

“The Trump Administration doesn’t get to ignore federal law when it comes to the predatory abortion industry and then reward the same industry with more taxpayer dollars!” Hawkins added.

The White House’s decision shouldn’t be mistaken as a friendly move toward reproductive rights. The Trump administration is in the midst of several court battles over its policies, and has appealed many losses to the Supreme Court.

Administration officials, who are staunchly anti-abortion, probably see one last year of Planned Parenthood funding as a small price to pay until they can ditch it altogether. In the meantime, though, it’s funny to see the president’s base fly into a rage even as he has successfully restricted abortion rights in many other ways.

The Army has suspended the aircrew that flew over Kid Rock’s house during a No Kings protest on Saturday.

Two Apache attack helicopters hovered outside the MAGA musician’s 27,000-square-foot Tennessee mansion, a replica of the executive estate that Rock has dubbed the “Southern White House.” In a bizarre exchange recorded by someone at Rock’s house, the “Bawitdaba” singer saluted the wayward copter.

“This is a level of respect that shit for brains Governor of California will never know,” Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, captioned the clip on X. “God Bless America and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend her.”

A second video posted to Ritchie’s account revealed that two helicopters had passed by his wannabe presidential property.

The Army identified the aircraft as AH-64 Apache helicopters that were operating around Nashville. A military spokesperson told NBC News Monday that the aircraft flew from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to the Nashville area.

“Army aviators must adhere to strict safety standards, professionalism, and established flight regulations,” the Army said in a statement Monday. “An administrative review is underway to assess the mission and verify compliance with regulations and airspace requirements.”

The Army noted that it would take “appropriate action” if any violations are uncovered.

A spokesperson for the 101st Airborne Division told NBC News that the helicopters’ presence was “entirely coincidental” with the No King demonstrations taking place across the country on Saturday.

Ritchie, a country rapper from Detroit, has become an increasingly prominent figure in the MAGA scene in recent years. He played at the Republican National Convention in 2024, was present in the White House as Donald Trump signed an executive order to curb ticket scalping in March 2025, and headlined Turning Point USA’s counterprogramming to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show in February.

He’s also gotten close with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., playing a prominent role in a series of agency-sponsored “Make America Healthy Again” adverts that featured Kennedy and Ritchie chugging milk and swimming in a pool with pants on.