Trump admits he's blocking postal cash to stop mail-in votes

 President Donald Trump frankly ackwledged Thursday that he's starving U.S. Postal Service of money in order to make it harder to process an expected surge of mail-in ballots, which he worries could cost him election.

In an interview on Fox Business Network, Trump explicitly ted two funding provisions that Democrats are seeking in a relief pack that has stalled on Capitol Hill. Without ditional money, he said, Postal Service won't have resources to handle a flood of ballots from voters who are seeking to avoid polling places during coronavirus pandemic.

“If we don’t make a deal, that means y don’t get money,” Trump told host Maria Bartiromo. “That means y can’t have universal mail-in voting; y just can’t have it.”

Trump's statements, including false claim that Democrats are seeking universal mail-in voting, come as he is searching for a strategy to gain an vant in his vember matchup against Joe Biden. He's pairing tough Postal Service stance in congressional negotiations with an increasingly robust mail-in-voting legal fight in states that could decide election.

In Iowa, which Trump won handily in 2016 but is more competitive this year, his campaign joined a lawsuit Wednesday against two Democratic-leaning counties in an effort to invalidate tens of thousands of voters’ absentee ballot applications. That followed legal maneuvers in battleground Pennsylvania, where campaign hopes to force changes to how state collects and counts mail-in ballots. And in Neva, Trump is challenging a law sending ballots to all active voters.

His efforts could face limits. U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rebuffed Republicans who challenged an agreement in Rhode Island allowing residents to vote by mail through vember’s general election without getting signatures from two witnesses or a tary.

For Democrats, Trump’s new remarks were a clear mission that president is attempting to restrict voting rights.

Biden said it was "Pure Trump. He doesn't want an election.”

Coloro Secretary of State Jena Griswold said it was " voter suppression to undermine safest method to vote during a pandemic, and force Americans to risk ir lives to vote."

Negotiations over a big new virus relief pack have all but ended, with White House and congressional leers far apart on size, scope and approach for shoring up households, reopening schools and launching a national strategy to contain coronavirus.

While re is some common ground over $100 billion for schools and new funds for virus testing, Democrats also want or emergency funds that Trump rejects.

“y want $3.5 billion for something that will turn out to be fraudulent. That’s election money, basically,” Trump said during Thursday's call-in interview.

Democrats have pushed for a total of $10 billion for Postal Service in talks with Republicans on COVID-19 response bill. That figure, which would include money to help with election mail, is down from a $25 billion plan in a House-passed coronavirus measure.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has said that ncy is in a financially untenable position, but he maintains it can handle this year's election mail. A major dor to Trump and or Republicans, DeJoy is first postmaster general in nearly two deces who is t a career postal employee.

“Although re will likely be an unprecedented increase in election mail volume due to pandemic, Postal Service has ample capacity to deliver all election mail securely and on-time in accordance with our delivery standards, and we will do so," he told Postal Service's governing board last week.

Memos obtained by Associated Press show that Postal Service leership has pushed to eliminate overtime and halt late delivery trips that are sometimes needed to ensure mail arrives on time, measures that postal workers and union officials say are delaying service. ditional records detail cuts to hours at post offices, including reductions on Saturdays and during lunch hours.

Democrats, and a handful of Republicans, have sent DeJoy several letters asking him to reverse his changes and criticizing what y say is a lack of openness by ncy. Late Wednesday, Senate Democrats again wrote DeJoy, this time saying postal leership is pushing state election officials to opt for pricier first-class post for mail-in ballots to be prioritized.

“Inste of taking steps to increase your ncy’s ability to deliver for American people, you are implementing policy changes that make matters worse, and Postal Service is reportedly considering changes that would increase costs for states at a time when millions of Americans are relying on voting by mail to exercise ir right to vote,” Democrats wrote.

Separately, in a letter last month, Postal Service warned Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson that ncy might t be able to deliver ballots in time to be counted under state’s delines for casting mail-in votes.

Postal Service spokesman David Partenheimer said in a statement that “certain delines concerning mail-in ballots, may be incompatible with Postal Service’s delivery standards,” especially if election officials don't pay more for first-class post.

“To extent that states choose to use mail as part of ir elections, y should do so in a manner that realistically reflects how mail works,” he said.

In a memo to staff Thursday, DeJoy said his policies have brought “unintended consequences that impacted our overall service levels,” but ded that Postal Service “must make a number of significant changes which will t be easy, but which are necessary."

“This will increase our performance for election and upcoming peak season and maintain high level of public trust we have earned for dedication and commitment to our customers throughout our history,” DeJoy wrote, according to memo obtained by AP.

Judy Beard, legislative and political director for American Postal Workers Union, said postal workers are up to task of delivering mail-in ballots this year.

“We definitely kw that president is absolutely wrong concerning vote-by-mail,” she said.

Rep. Gerry Conlly, D-Va., chair of House subcommittee on government operations, said Trump is ackwledging that he wants to hold up funding for U.S. Postal Service to hinder Americans from voting.

“ president mits his motive for holding USPS funding host is that he doesn’t want Americans to vote by mail,” Conlly said in a statement Thursday. “Why? It hurts his electoral chances. He’s putting self-preservation ahe of public safety, for an election he deserves to lose.”

Trump has requested a mail-in ballot for Florida’s primary election Tuesday. Ballots were mailed Wednesday to both president and first ly Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago resort, which Trump lists as his legal dress, according to online Palm Beach County elections records. Both voted by mail in presidential preference primary in March, according to records.