In 2012, Donald Trump said, "The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy. ... A total sham and a travesty."
On November 13, 2016, then-President-elect Donald Trump said the following on Sixty Minutes to Lesley Stahl about the Electoral College and a national popular vote for President:
Stahl: Now for months you were running around saying the system is rigged. The whole thing was rigged. You tweeted once that the Electoral College is a “disaster for democracy.”
Trump: I do.
Stahl: So do you still think it’s rigged?
Trump: Well, I think the Electoral College. Look I won with the Electoral College.
Stahl: Exactly. But do you think it’s rigged?
Trump: Yes. Some of the election locations are. Some of the system is. Ah.
Stahl: Even though you won, you’re saying that.
Trump: Well, I mean, I’m not going to change my mind just because I won. But I would rather see it, where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes, and somebody else gets 90 million votes, and you win. There’s a reason for doing this. Because it brings all the states into play. The Electoral College. And there’s something very good about that. But this is a different system. But I respect it. I do respect the system.
On April 26, 2018, President Donald Trump told Fox & Friends that "I would rather have a popular election." Politico Video