President Donald Trump delivered a prime-time televised address on Thursday, announcing the declassification of intelligence reports alleging Chinese interference in U.S. elections. The president claimed that Beijing illicitly acquired 220 million U.S. voter files, including names, addresses, and other registration data, calling the breach a major threat to democracy and highlighting shocking vulnerabilities in the system.
The 25-minute address underscores an effort to make election security a central political issue ahead of the midterm elections in November. During the speech, Trump referenced a so-called deep state that he alleged had hidden evidence of Chinese meddling. China has denied the claims.
These assertions revive long-running attacks on election security and repeat claims regarding the 2020 presidential election. However, U.S. intelligence assessments, as well as courts, audits, and the Justice Department, have found no evidence of fraud or interference that altered the 2020 results. While the U.S. has investigated reports of foreign election interference since at least 2016, no evidence has emerged that those attempts altered outcomes.