By Bo Erickson and Daphne Psaledakis

WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday defended U.S. ‌President Donald Trump's ability to vote by ‌mail, after reports the president cast his ballot by mail in ​Florida's Republican primary despite previously blasting mail-in ballots as "cheating".

• "As President Trump has said, the SAVE America Act has commonsense exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, ‌disability, military, or ⁠travel – but universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it's highly susceptible to ⁠fraud," White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said when asked about reports Trump voted by mail in the primary.

• "As ​everyone knows, ​the President is a ​resident of Palm Beach ‌and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C.," Wales added.

• Politico reported on Monday that Trump voted by mail in Florida's Republican primary, citing local voting records.

• ‌Palm Beach County's supervisor of ​elections did not immediately respond ​to a request for ​comment.

• Trump is pushing Congress to ‌enact new voting restrictions and ​is trying to ​restrict mail-in voting, repeating unfounded allegations that it is more susceptible to fraud.

• Trump cast his vote ​by mail in ‌a March special election in Florida.

(Reporting by Bo ​Erickson; Writing by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by ​Andy Sullivan and Chizu Nomiyama )