US President Donald Trump claimed on Sunday that 125 million people voted in the "first round of India's Presidential Election" — an election that never happened — and used the claim to argue that "Voting in America is CORRUPT."
What Trump wrote
In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump wrote: "125 Million People voted today in the first round of India's Presidential Election. The results came out shortly after the vote closed, on the SAME DAY!" He then contrasted the supposed Indian process with American vote counting: "In Detroit, Philadelphia, California, and numerous other US Cities and States, the results, with much smaller numbers, will often take weeks to Rig, I mean, calculate. Voting in America is CORRUPT!!!" He signed the post "President DJT," and the White House Rapid Response account reposted it.
It was Brazil's election, not India's
The figures Trump cited match Brazil's presidential election, whose first round was held on Sunday. Brazil's electoral authority recorded 125.27 million valid votes, with results released from 5 pm as ballots were processed. The race pitted incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva against Flávio Bolsonaro; with 98.81% of votes counted, Bolsonaro led with 47.24% to Lula's 44.91%, sending the contest to a runoff on October 25 since neither cleared 50%.
India, meanwhile, held no presidential election. Droupadi Murmu, who took office in July 2022, is India's current president — and Indians do not directly elect their president at all; the office is filled by an electoral college of national and state lawmakers.
Why it matters
The post drew swift corrections across social media, with users pointing out that the numbers described Brazil's vote. The episode sits inside a larger fight: Trump has repeatedly attacked the US electoral process, including mail-in voting, while critics say posts like this one — mixing up two countries while declaring American voting corrupt — undermine confidence in democratic institutions on the basis of a false premise. The White House has not commented on the apparent mix-up.
Watch: NewsX reports on Trump's Truth Social post mistaking Brazil's election for India's.
Reel music: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Mathrubhumi, DT Next, Times Now, Firstpost