U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election were manipulated.
According to Reuters, President Trump, shortly after a summit held in Alaska on the 15th (local time), said in a Fox News interview, "President Putin mentioned that the 2020 election was manipulated and that I won." He continued, "President Putin stated that no country currently conducting mail-in voting can hold an honest election." President Trump emphasized Putin as "a smart guy" and highlighted his remarks.
It is unclear why President Putin brought up the 2020 U.S. presidential election and mail-in voting during the meeting. However, he has previously made baseless claims of electoral fraud in the U.S., raising the possibility that this statement was also intended to support Trump's position. President Trump continues to assert that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that his defeat to former President Joe Biden, the Democratic candidate, was due to "election manipulation."
The key tool he identified for electoral fraud is mail-in voting used for absentee ballots and early voting. President Trump reiterated the need for reform, stating, "We cannot maintain great democracy with mail-in voting."
The summit lasted nearly three hours, but no agreement was reached on the issue of ending the war in Ukraine. Nevertheless, both sides shared common ground on the points of 'unsubstantiated electoral fraud' and 'mail-in voting's ineffectiveness.'
However, President Putin's statement that "no country in the world conducts mail-in voting" is inaccurate. According to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), based in Sweden, over 30 countries, including Canada, Germany, and Korea, allow mail-in voting.