Former President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address from the White House, alleging "shocking vulnerabilities" in American voting systems and accusing China of interfering in the 2020 presidential election. These claims directly contradict past assessments by U.S. intelligence agencies.
During the half-hour speech, Trump stated he had declassified hundreds of intelligence files to support his assertion that China attempted to sway the 2020 election in favor of Joe Biden. He further alleged that China engaged in the "illicit acquisition" of 220 million voter files, including personal information, and that voter data in 18 states was "bought, stolen or hacked by China." However, Trump did not present evidence to demonstrate that China used this alleged information to alter voting systems or influence election outcomes.
The U.S. intelligence community, in a 2021 report by the National Intelligence Council, concluded with "high confidence" that China did not interfere in the 2020 presidential election. The report stated that China "did not view either election outcome as being advantageous enough for China to risk blowback if caught" and therefore "did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the U.S. presidential election."
In response to Trump's speech, the Chinese Embassy in Washington stated that Beijing "has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections." Democrats accused Trump of attempting to undermine confidence in the upcoming midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer posted on social media that "Democrats will fight like hell to make sure every American voter can cast their ballot freely, without obstruction or interference from Donald Trump."
Trump also claimed that U.S. voting machines are "extremely exposed" to interference from foreign adversaries, including Russia, China, and Iran. The vulnerabilities of U.S. election infrastructure have been previously documented, with some issues addressed following the 2016 election, during which U.S. intelligence found that Russia had engaged in a widespread election meddling campaign.
Additionally, Trump alleged that a state investigation in Michigan uncovered a voter registration fraud scheme by a group affiliated with Democrats, but that the FBI prevented action before the statute of limitations expired. He provided no evidence that votes or tabulations were changed or that voting machines were hacked. He also claimed that the Department of Homeland Security identified 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote, without specifying if these individuals voted or impacted any election outcome.
Towards the end of his address, Trump reiterated his call for the passage of the SAVE America Act. This proposed legislation seeks to ban most mail-in voting, require proof of citizenship for voter registration, and mandate photo identification to cast a ballot. The bill has been stalled in the Senate for several months.
Trump delivered this speech following the release of a Washington Post-Ipsos poll indicating a drop in his approval rating to 37%, with many voters expressing pessimism regarding the cost of living and the ongoing conflict with Iran.