Trump alleges Chinese election meddling and pushes voting restrictions ahead of midterms
President Donald Trump claims Beijing compromised voter data in 18 states and calls for the SAVE America Act, while intelligence agencies maintain China did not interfere in the 2020 election.
US President Donald Trump delivered a primetime address from the White House on Thursday, accusing China of interfering in the 2020 presidential election and citing "shocking vulnerabilities" within American voting systems. Speaking to members of his administration, Trump claimed that Beijing illicitly acquired 220 million voter files and that data in 18 states had been compromised. The President stated he had declassified hundreds of intelligence files to support these assertions, although he presented no evidence that the information was used to alter election outcomes.
The allegations stand in direct contradiction to previous US intelligence assessments. A 2021 report by the US National Intelligence Council concluded with high confidence that China did not interfere in the 2020 election, noting that Beijing did not view either candidate as sufficiently advantageous to risk diplomatic blowback. The declassified documents released by the White House included a CIA assessment concerning Venezuela’s election and another indicating that while Chinese spies targeted the Biden campaign, they did not intend to covertly interfere in the US election outcome.
During the address, Trump also highlighted alleged domestic irregularities, claiming that a Michigan state investigation uncovered a voter registration fraud scheme by a Democratic-affiliated group that was constrained by the FBI. He further alleged that the Department of Homeland Security had identified 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote. The President did not specify whether any of these individuals had voted or impacted election results.
In response to the speech, the Chinese Embassy in Washington told Reuters that Beijing "has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections." The BBC approached the Chinese foreign ministry for comment. Democrats swiftly dismissed the President's claims, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer accusing Trump of attempting to sow doubt about the security of the upcoming November midterms. Former Vice-President Kamala Harris posted on X, stating that Trump wants Americans to lose confidence in the electoral system to suppress turnout.
The address also served as a renewed call for the passage of the SAVE America Act, legislation that would restrict mail voting, require proof of citizenship for registration, and mandate photo identification to cast a ballot. Trump urged Congress to pass the bill, which has been stalled in the Senate for months. The speech follows a Washington Post-Ipsos poll indicating Trump’s approval rating had dropped to 37%, with voters expressing pessimism regarding the cost of living and the ongoing war with Iran.
