Trump repeats inaccurate Ukraine aid amount during meeting with Zelensky
In a series of recent statements, President Donald Trump has made claims about the use of mail-in voting and the amount of aid provided to Ukraine. Let's take a closer look at these assertions and separate fact from fiction.
Mail-In Voting
Contrary to President Trump's claim, the United States is not the only country in the world that uses mail-in voting. Several nations, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland, also employ this method for casting ballots.
In a Monday morning social media post, President Trump expressed his desire to "get rid of" mail-in ballots, a statement that lacks basis. Mail-in voting is a legitimate method used by legitimate voters to cast legitimate ballots. Elections experts agree that the incidence of fraud tends to be marginally higher with mail-in ballots than with in-person ballots, but fraud rates in federal elections are tiny even with mail-in ballots.
The Carter Center, a non-partisan election observation group founded by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, released a report in the 2000s that highlighted an example of successful mail-only elections in Oregon and offered recommendations for making the use of mail-in ballots more secure. However, the report did not state that an honest election was impossible with the use of mail-in ballots.
U.S. Aid to Ukraine
President Trump has also made false claims about the amount of aid given to Ukraine, stating that it exceeds $300 billion and $350 billion. In reality, from late January 2022 through June 2025, the United States has provided approximately $175 billion in total aid to Ukraine.
The majority of this aid is military-related, with the U.S. delivering weapons, defense systems, and funds amounting to roughly €115 billion (about $125 billion) by June 2025. Beyond military support, the U.S. has granted substantial financial and humanitarian support, with approximately $50.9 billion of U.S. aid supporting Ukraine’s broader state functions, including defense, humanitarian aid, and economic stabilization.
According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, the US allocated about $134 billion to Ukraine in military, financial, and humanitarian aid from late January 2022 through June 2025.
Fifteen years after the release of the Carter Center report, Jimmy Carter, in a 2020 statement, approved the use of absentee ballots and had been using them for more than five years. He also stated that since 2005, many states have gained substantial experience in vote-by-mail and have shown how key concerns can be effectively addressed through appropriate planning, resources, training, and messaging.
In a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, when asked about mail-in ballots, President Trump repeated false claims about their security and integrity. Trump called mail-in ballots "corrupt" and said "you can never have a real democracy with mail-in ballots," a claim that lacks basis.
- The topic of mail-in voting is not exclusive to the United States, as several countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland also employ this method for casting ballots.
- Despite President Trump's assertion that mail-in voting is prone to fraud, elections experts have found that the incidence of fraud with mail-in ballots is actually quite small.
- In contrast to President Trump's claims regarding the security and integrity of mail-in ballots, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who founded the Carter Center, a non-partisan election observation group, has publicly supported the use of absentee ballots and stated that many states have gained substantial experience in vote-by-mail over the years.
