Trump attacks Supreme Court after mail-in voting curb bid fails

Donald Trump attacked the Supreme Court after it refused to curb mail-in voting before the midterms. The order leaves long-standing ballot systems intact and revives questions over judicial loyalty and election rhetoric.

In Short

• The court said proposed ballot restrictions would likely fail this year
• States will keep existing postal ballot systems ahead of November midterms
• Election officials said there was no time to redesign secure processes

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday attacked the Supreme Court after it rejected his attempt to restrict mail-in voting in this year’s midterm elections. In a social media post, Trump said justices who opposed him were "not the people I interviewed" and accused the court of failing to "do the right thing for our Country".

The order, issued late on Monday, said the proposed restrictions would most likely fail in court, at least for this year’s election. The ruling means states can continue sending out mail ballots under the same systems they have used for years, with voting by post already under way in some states.

The Trump administration had made a last-minute push to give the US Postal Service a central role in deciding who would be able to receive a ballot. State election officials argued there was not enough time to make the changes before the November 3 midterms and said their systems were already secure and accurate.

Reacting to the decision, Trump wrote, "The Court’s inability and unwillingness to do the right thing for our Country will go down, in a very negative way, in the annals of History." He also said, "This Supreme Court is bullied and cajoled by the Radical Left into making decisions that have set America back at least a hundred years." Trump further wrote, "These are not the people I interviewed to serve on the United States Supreme Court, they are merely a shell of their original selves," and claimed the court "is costing the United States Trillions of Dollars with shockingly bad rulings that are of such magnitude that it won’t be easily possible for our Country to recover or heal."

Justices Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas publicly dissented from the order, and Trump called them "legends both". Trump has nominated three members of the court: Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh. The president has a long record of attacking judges, often personally, when they issue rulings against him, and he has often treated legal appointments as owing loyalty to the person who nominated them. As Barrett, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch have ruled against him at different points over the years, Trump has criticised them publicly, while praising them when they sided with him.

Trump has also been angry with the court over decisions blocking his efforts to restrict birthright citizenship and limit his ability to impose tariffs on his own. At the same time, the court led by Chief Justice John Roberts has backed him on some major issues, including a 2024 ruling by its conservative majority that former presidents are presumed to have immunity for official acts. That decision cleared the way for Trump to seek re-election without the threat of a criminal trial that year.

Trump has long opposed mail voting and has falsely blamed it for his 2020 election loss. A Brookings Institution report published in 2025 found that fraud in mail voting happened in only about four cases for every 10 million mail ballots cast. About a third of voters use mail ballots, and Trump also complained on Tuesday that the court had taken too long to issue its decision.

In another post, Trump said, "It is not easy for me to write this criticism of the United States Supreme Court - it will likely cost me dearly for years to come - but I feel it my obligation and duty, as President, to do so for the America we love!" The latest order keeps existing mail ballot procedures in place for the midterms, even as Trump continues to publicly criticise the court and several judges he appointed.

With PTI Inputs

- Ends