In a primetime address Thursday, former President Donald Trump announced he has declassified documents he asserts demonstrate vulnerabilities in U.S. election systems, election fraud, and interference by China. He also stated he has directed the Department of Justice to prosecute those implicated.
"America is back and doing really well, but we still have a major challenge that must be urgently addressed because no country can be great without fair and honest elections, you have to trust your country," Trump said. "Because if there can be no trust, there can be no greatness, and that's very simple: no trust, no greatness."
Despite repeated claims that the 2020 election was "stolen" or "rigged," Trump did not present specific evidence during the 22-minute speech that the election outcome or any votes were altered.
The declassified documents, Trump stated, reveal "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure" that expose the system to "hacking, exploitation, and foreign interference." He further claimed this information has been intentionally hidden from the public for years.
According to Trump, the documents focus on allegations that China "compromised" election data during the 2020 election cycle and attempted to downplay the extent of these efforts. He asserted that the intelligence community suppressed information regarding China's alleged access to 220 million U.S. voter files, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and political party preferences, which he claimed could be used for "nefarious activities."
Trump accused elements within the intelligence agencies, which he referred to as the "deep state," of actively suppressing and downplaying information about China's alleged election meddling. He claimed that U.S. intelligence agencies learned that tens of millions of voters' data in 18 states had been "bought, stolen, or hacked" by China, and that this information was deliberately withheld from him during his presidency and not disclosed to Congress.
He also contended that the Chinese government desired his defeat in the 2020 election, believing he would be a tougher opponent than Joe Biden. Trump stated that information about alleged Chinese interference attempts was excluded from his daily intelligence briefings.
Administration officials from both the Biden and Trump administrations have stated that there was no intelligence indicating that voting machines or vote totals were changed. A declassified Intelligence Community Assessment from March 2021 acknowledged the belief among some intelligence officials that "China took at least some steps to undermine former President Trump's reelection chances," but specified these actions were primarily through social media and public statements, not by interfering with "election processes."
The ICA further suggested that while China was "probably" trying "to gather information on US voters and public opinion; political parties, candidates and their staffs; and senior government officials," its efforts were more likely aimed at "predict[ing] electoral outcomes and to inform its efforts to influence US policy toward China under either election outcome," rather than undermining Trump.
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian on Friday dismissed Trump's claims as "completely fabricated out of thin air" and "utter nonsense," stating that China adheres to non-interference in internal affairs and has no interest in or has never interfered in U.S. presidential elections. Jian also questioned which entity routinely interferes in other countries' affairs and engages in widespread surveillance and data theft.
Trump also raised concerns about the security of U.S. voting infrastructure, specifically electronic voting machines and ballot counting systems, calling it a "cyberthreat aimed at the very heart of our democracy."
He claimed that among the disclosed documents was CIA information detailing an alleged plot by the Maduro regime in Venezuela to "digitally rig their own country's elections in 2020," suggesting similar tactics could be employed in the U.S. The source and credibility of this information, and its execution in Venezuela, remain unclear.
Regarding a Michigan investigation, Trump alleged that former Justice Department officials delayed an inquiry into voter registration applications that purportedly contained forged signatures and other indicators of fraud. He stated that FBI files detail evidence of alleged fraud by a "large-scale voter registration operation" in Michigan in 2020, where canvassers allegedly admitted to signing forms in others' names, submitting fraudulent registrations, and receiving incentives based on the number of applications produced.
Trump indicated he would ask FBI Director Kash Patel to ensure a full investigation and work with the Department of Justice to prosecute those responsible. Local media reported at the time that a state-level investigation was halted for an FBI inquiry, but it is unclear why federal charges were not filed or if they were warranted. State officials previously stated that the detection of fraudulent applications demonstrated the system's effectiveness, with no successful fraud perpetrated against the state's election process.
Trump also cited a Department of Homeland Security report alleging that state voter rolls and public records identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote in federal elections. He did not allege that these individuals voted.
Reports from the Center for Election Innovation and Research and the Heritage Foundation suggest that allegations of non-citizen registration or voting are often based on misunderstandings or mischaracterizations of voter data, with verified instances of non-citizen voting being extremely rare over the past two decades. The DHS report cited a review of "public voter files" from four states, and in 10 states that provided access to their rolls, the agency found 28,000 non-citizen voters, without specifying its methodology or the source of the initial