US: Trump on mail-in ballots, Kanye and WH RNC speech

President Donald Trump says he is getting information about "terrible" mail-in ballots from a variety of newspapers including the Washington Post and New York Times and "you see them all over the internet."

Speaking to reporters Wednesday during a coronavirus briefing, Trump was asked about the source of his complaints about fraudulent mail-in ballots.

Trump claimed Monday that he has the authority to issue an executive order on mail-in ballots, whose increasing use, he argues, could increase election fraud and uncertainty, though it is is unclear what he could do to curtail the practice.

Trump has increasingly sought to cast doubt on November's election and the expected pandemic-induced surge in mail-in and absentee voting — particularly as he has found himself trailing in public and private polling. Trump has called remote voting options the "biggest risk" to his reelection. His campaign and the Republican Party have sued to combat the practice, which was once a significant advantage for the GOP.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud through mail-in voting and the states that use it exclusively say they have necessary safeguards in place to ensure that a hostile foreign actor doesn't disrupt the vote. Election security experts say voter fraud is rare in all forms of balloting, including by mail.

The president denied he knew anything about the presidential ambitions of rapper Kanye West.

Representatives of West submitted 1,723 signatures with Arkansas' secretary of state's office Monday, which has 10 days to verify that he's submitted the 1,000 signatures from registered voters required to appear on the Arkansas ballot.

West, who once backed Republican President Donald Trump, announced last month that he had broken with Trump and would launch his own presidential bid.

West's wife, reality TV star and beauty mogul Kim Kardashian West, asked the public on social media last month to show compassion and empathy toward her husband because he is bipolar.

Trump also said he's considering delivering his Republican convention speech from the White House.

That would mark an unprecedented use of public property for partisan political purposes. Trump said he was considering the speech from the White House because of the security and cost advantages.

The Republican convention is scheduled for Aug. 24-27, with Trump's speech capping the final night. The speech was going to be held in North Carolina until Trump feuded with the Democratic governor over health restrictions. Trump moved it to Florida but scrapped that because of a resurgence of the coronavirus there.