Trump turns to foreign account to push his case against mail-in voting

President Donald Trump has repeatedly condemned foreign interference in U.S. elections, most recently accusing China of election meddling during a primetime address on Thursday last week. But he appears less averse to using a foreign-based account himself to attack a domestic election measure he opposes— on Sunday, he amplified content from "Sami Nathaniel," an account X identifies as based in South Asia, according to Meidas News, which posted pro-Trump and pro-MAGA content focused on U.S. politics.

Trump reposted a video from the account featuring an exchange between Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) and Slotkin, and then shared a screenshot of a post asking whether Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) was related to Greta Thunberg. The video carried a caption: “MAGA WARRIOR LAUGHS IN DEMOCRAT SENATOR’S FACE AND TEACHES HER A LESSON LOL! SHE DID NOT EXPECT THAT ONE TO BACKFIRE LIKE THAT!”

The exchange itself was a debate rather than a "gotcha" moment, as the caption suggested. In the clip, Slotkin defended the U.S. Postal Service and accused Trump of trying to federalize elections, arguing that he calls any election he loses "rigged." Moreno countered that Democrats had pushed the For the People Act, which he said nationalized elections and diminished voter integrity, and argued for postal reform—adding that Trump's aim is simply to root out voter fraud.

Trump has been particularly critical of mail-in ballots, calling them "inherently corrupt" in his latest primetime address—even though he himself has voted by mail across several elections, including in 2018, 2020 and, most recently, in a Florida special election this March, according to the New York Times. His claims are largely unfounded: the Brookings Institution found that fraud accounts for only about four cases out of 10 million mail-in ballots.

The 80-year-old has undertaken serious efforts to limit mail voting in his second term. His most recent move came in a March 31 executive order directing federal agencies to compile voter lists and directing the U.S. Postal Service to deliver mail-in ballots only to voters on an approved list. It's his second such measure to reshape America's election process, following a 2025 order that included a "proof of citizenship" mandate.

A federal judge stopped the administration in its tracks, explicitly rejecting the argument that the order was simply an enforcement of existing federal law. "While the Constitution vests the President with 'executive Power' and commands him to take care that the laws be faithfully executed, it does not grant the President any specific powers over elections," U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani wrote—echoing the words of a separate ruling that struck down Trump's earlier order.