Trump voted by mail in Florida special election despite his rhetoric opposing it
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport on March 23, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — Public records show that President Donald Trump voted by mail in the special election occurring Tuesday for the statehouse district that includes his Mar-a-Lago estate in spite of his longstanding rhetoric against voting by mail and his efforts to push through the SAVE America Act, which includes restrictions on mail-in voting.
According to public records available on the Palm Beach County elections website, Trump voted by mail ballot in the special election for Florida’s 87th House district.
Trump has spoken critically about voting by mail for years. As recently as Monday, during remarks in Memphis, Tennessee, the president said that “mail-in voting means mail-in cheating — I call it mail-in cheating — and we got to do something about it all.”
A White House spokesperson, in response to a request for comment, said that Trump has supported “commonsense exceptions” to allow Americans to use mail-in ballots, including for “illness, disability, military, or travel,” but that he opposes universal voting by mail due to it being “highly susceptible to fraud.”
An analysis from the Brookings Institution from November 2025 found that voter fraud is rare in voting by mail.
“As everyone knows, the President is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C.,” spokesperson Olivia Wales wrote in a statement.
Trump frequently visits his Mar-a-Lago estate and was there as recently as Monday morning.
The SAVE America Act, promoted by Trump, would place some new requirements and restrictions on voting by mail.
Florida’s 87th House district special election was scheduled after Mike Caruso, who previously represented the district, was appointed to a county role. Democrats have been eyeing the district as one they could potentially flip, with an eye toward the irony of flipping the president’s home district. Trump and Republicans, meanwhile, have been promoting Republican candidate Jon Maples in an effort to keep the seat in GOP hands.
This is not the first time Trump has voted by mail while president. He voted by mail in the 2020 Florida presidential primary — after he switched his formal place of residence from New York to Florida in September 2019.
Other presidents have voted in elections in their home states while in office. Then-President Joe Biden, for instance, flew to Delaware to vote in the 2022 primaries.
ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
Attorney General Pam Bondi arrives ahead of a closed briefing before the House Oversight Committee at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on March 18, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(WASHINGTON) — House Oversight Committee Democrats said Wednesday that Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to commit to complying with a subpoena that compels her to testify at a closed-door deposition over the Jeffrey Epstein files on April 14.
Frustrations boiled over Wednesday evening as Democrats stormed out in protest of a closed-door briefing on the files — characterizing it as a “fake hearing.” Republicans chided Democrats for a “premeditated” stunt.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the committee, told reporters, “She refused on multiple occasions to commit to following the subpoena that Chairman [James] Comer actually just put out. I asked her repeatedly that question. Other members asked her that question, and she would not commit to it. It is outrageous. It’s infuriating, and it’s continuous — this White House cover up of the Epstein files.”
Republicans, however, contended that Bondi actually stated that she would “follow the law” regarding her subpoena.
“She said she’s going to stick to the law, whatever the law is, that’s what it is. So, I’m not the attorney but that was a legal answer, and that’s what she’s required to do as the attorney general,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., said. “It was all staged, you could tell it, because it just built up to it.”
Asked after the briefing if she would comply with the subpoena, Bondi replied, “I made it crystal clear. I will follow the law.”
Congressional subpoenas carry the weight of law behind them — defying one could result in a charge of contempt of Congress. But Democrats would need a handful of Republicans to vote with them to hold Bondi in contempt and the Department of Justice typically does not prosecute its own attorney general.
The attorney general admonished Democrats, who she said did not ask any substantive questions.
“We were there to answer questions. It’s the evening. We came at their convenience. We gave them as, really, as much time as they wanted,” Bondi said. “We sat there saying, ‘anything you want to ask us, ask us, anything you want to ask us.'”
After the briefing, Comer told reporters that he does not believe Bondi should sit for a deposition — even though the committee approved the subpoena.
“I personally don’t see any reason for her to do a deposition. She’s the sitting attorney general. She’s turning over documents. I think the Democrats want to do this to embarrass her,” he said.
Comer stressed that he did not vote for the subpoena to bring her in for a deposition.
“I want to bring in the bad guys for the deposition,” Comer emphasized. “I want to bring in the men who have abused women. I want to bring in anyone who is involved in the prosecution and or lack of prosecution, of Epstein Maxwell and and some of these other guys. So that’s where I think our time and energy should be spent.”
Comer and Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., told reporters that they had a heated exchange, with the chairman acknowledging he scolded Lee to stop “bitching.”
“She was just complaining about the format,” Comer said. “The attorney general and [Deputy Attorney General Todd] Blanche and all the top brass at the DOJ in here to answer questions, and yet they don’t ask a single question.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a news briefing at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, March 30, 2026, in Washington. Alex Wong/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — As oil and gas prices soar amid Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump and his top officials now appear to be suggesting it’s not the U.S.’s problem to solve.
Trump on Tuesday again lashed out at allies for not getting involved in the conflict, and told them: “Go get your own oil!”
“All of those countries that can’t get jet fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the U.S., we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just TAKE IT,” the president wrote in a post on his social media platform.
“You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the U.S.A. won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us,” Trump added.
Trump reiterated that sentiment in a phone call with ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl later Tuesday.
“I’m going to let the countries that want to buy oil, they can — they can police it themselves. Why should I do it for them? They weren’t there for me,” Trump told ABC’s Karl of the Strait of Hormuz.
The statements appear to be a far cry from Trump’s threat to Iran from just days ago. On March 21, he wrote on social media that if Iran didn’t “FULLY OPEN” the strait in 48 hours, the U.S. would hit the country’s power plants. That deadline was extended twice after Trump said that negotiations were ongoing.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday echoed Trump in calling on countries around the world to “be prepared to step up.”
“It’s not just the United States Navy. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well,” Hegseth said, referring to the United Kingdom’s naval forces.
“President Trump’s been willing to do the heavy lifting on behalf of the free world to address this threat of Iran,” Hegseth said. “It’s not just our problem set going forward, even though we have done the lion’s share of preparation to ensure that that strait will be open, which is an outcome the president has been very clear on.”
Prior to the war, more than 100 ships were passing through the Strait of Hormuz each day, according to data from U.N. Trade and Development. Now, just a handful of ships are estimated to be passing through on a daily basis amid Tehran’s chokehold.
The result has been a record monthly spike in oil and gas prices. In the U.S., the average cost of a gallon of gas topped $4 on Tuesday for the first time since August 2022.
Yet, Trump administration officials have notably declined to list reopening the strait as a key objective of Operation Epic Fury.
“The objectives of Operation Epic Fury are as follows: destroying the Iranian navy; destroying their ballistic missiles; dismantling their defense industrial infrastructure that produces those weapons that have long threatened the United States and our allies; and then, of course, preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Monday’s press briefing.
Leavitt was pressed by a reporter whether Trump can declare victory over Iran if passage through the strait remains as hampered as it is now.
“The full reopening of the strait is something the administration is working towards, but the core objectives of the operation have been clearly defined for the American people by the commander in chief,” Leavitt replied.
Trump has said he long predicted Iran would use the strait as a weapon, and that he knew oil prices would go up if the U.S. attacked Iran. He has faced criticism for not vocalizing a clear strategy for reopening the waterway, where roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply is caught in the crosshairs of the conflict.
Trump earlier this month issued a public request to U.S partners in Europe and Asia to help the U.S. secure the strait. Those countries largely rebuffed his call to send warships and other kinds of assistance. Some made clear this is not their war, while others have said they would get involved in the strait — but only once hostilities end.
The cold shoulder prompted Trump to change his tune and declare, “We don’t need any help, actually.”
Trump then ramped up threats to attack Tehran’s power and desalination plants if Iran doesn’t reopen the strait.
“If for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!),” Trump posted Monday.
Trump has paused attacks on Iran until April 6 citing ongoing negotiations with new Iranian leadership, though Tehran has publicly denied any direct talks and has pushed back on a 15-point peace plan presented by the U.S. through intermediaries.
Amid his renewed call on Tuesday for other nations to step up, Trump told CBS News he is not “yet” pulling U.S. assets from the Strait of Hormuz, but “at some point I will.”
Later, in an interview with the New York Post, Trump said he believed the strait would “automatically open” when the U.S. exits the conflict.
“I don’t think about it, to be honest,” Trump told the New York Post. “My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave, the strait will automatically open.”
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, accompanied by U.S. President Donald Trump (R), and his son X Musk, speaks during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
(NEW YORK) — One year after Elon Musk began an unprecedented attempt to eliminate swaths of the federal government, newly released deposition videos are providing a never-before-seen look at two of the people responsible for the largest mass termination of federal grants in the National Endowment for the Humanities’ history.
According to the depositions and other materials released as part of a civil lawsuit related to the funding cuts, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) relied on ChatGPT to identify more than $100 million in grants related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) that were later cancelled.
When President Donald Trump returned to office last January, he empowered Musk to slash federal spending as a lead adviser in the newly created DOGE. Within days, all agencies were directed to put DEI staff on leave and related programs were shuttered.
In lengthy depositions, two DOGE employees — Justin Fox and Nate Cavanaugh — defended the effort to cut “useless agencies” as part of DOGE’s attempt to reduce the federal deficit.
“You don’t regret that people might have lost important income … to support their lives?” an attorney asked Cavanaugh about the grant cancellations.
“No. I think it was more important to reduce the federal deficit from $2 trillion to close to zero,” Cavanaugh said.
“Did you reduce the federal deficit?” the attorney asked.
“No, we didn’t,” Cavanaugh said.
With backgrounds in tech and finance, neither man worked in government prior to joining DOGE last year. Cavanaugh said they originally determined which grants could be cut based on if they included certain words — like “DEI, DEIA, Equity, Inclusion, BIPAC, LGBTQ” — though the final decision about cuts was up to the head of individual agencies.
“Do you think it’s inappropriate in any way that someone in their 20s with no experience with grants for the federal government was making personal judgment calls about what grants to cancel?” an attorney asked.
“Um, no. I don’t think it’s inappropriate,” Cavanaugh said, arguing that he did not need formal education or experience to make informed judgments.
“So presumably you read some of these books that would have informed you on how to cancel a grant based on DEI,” the attorney asked.
“Um, I did not read a book, um, on how to discern whether a grant includes DEI or not. I read the actual description of the actual grant,” Cavanaugh said.
Fox said they instead turned to OpenAI’s ChatGPT to help sift through the thousands of grants awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
According to court filings, the men prompted ChatGPT by asking, “From the perspective of someone looking to identify DEI grants, does this involve DEI? Respond factually in less than 120 characters.· Begin with ‘Yes.’ o. ‘No.’ followed by a brief explanation.· Do not use ‘this initiative’ or ‘this description’ in your response.”
Fox was repeatedly pressed by attorneys to explain certain funding decisions, such as defunding a language center — described as a “wasteful, noncritical spend” — or projects related to Black history and civil rights.
“Why is a documentary about Holocaust survivors DEI?” an attorney asked.
“It’s a gender-based story that’s inherently discriminatory to focus on this specific group,” Fox said.
According to the depositions and legal documents, the men did not provide a clear definition for DEI or take additional steps to ensure the decisions were not discriminatory — arguing it was not necessary because AI software was not the final decision-maker.
“Did you do anything to ensure that ChatGPT’s perception of DEI as applied here wouldn’t discriminate on the basis of sex?” an attorney asked, prompting another objection.
“It didn’t matter,” Fox said.
DOGE’s efforts in multiple federal agencies and departments last year faced opposition and lawsuits, with critics raising concerns about the group’s effectiveness and its access to sensitive data.
Both Fox and Cavanaugh defended the funding decisions, arguing the cuts were necessary to reduce the deficit, though they never achieved their goals.
“Did you ever find it problematic that you were, alongside Nate, short-listing for termination projects that had hits on words like Black, homosexual, LGBTQ+?” an attorney asked, prompting an objection and follow up question.
“We were identifying wasteful spend in the government based on administration direction. That was the whole reason we were there, was to find savings,” Fox said, though he acknowledged the deficit was never reduced.
Their work cutting grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities was memorialized in a social media post by DOGE, which vowed that any future grants would be “merit-based and awarded to non-DEI, pro-America causes.”
According to the depositions, some of the saved funds were spent on the National Garden of American Heroes — a sculpture garden to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary.
