Trump alleges election vulnerabilities before midterms

President Donald Trump used a primetime White House address Thursday to allege “shocking vulnerabilities” in U.S. election systems, accuse China of interfering in the 2020 presidential race and press Congress to pass sweeping voting restrictions ahead of November’s midterm elections.

Speaking for about half an hour from the White House, Trump said he had declassified hundreds of intelligence files that he claimed supported his allegations that Beijing tried to sway the 2020 election in Joe Biden’s favor. He also alleged that China had illicitly acquired voter information on 220 million Americans and that voter data in 18 states was “bought, stolen or hacked by China.”

Trump did not present evidence that China used any information it allegedly gathered to alter voting systems or change election outcomes. The Chinese Embassy in Washington told Reuters that Beijing “has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections.”

His claims conflict with a 2021 assessment by the U.S. National Intelligence Council, which said it had “high confidence” that China did not interfere in the 2020 presidential election. “We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US presidential election,” the report said. A minority view in that report said China took some steps to undermine Trump’s reelection chances, mainly through social media, public statements and media, but concluded there was no information suggesting China tried to interfere with election processes.

The White House released newly declassified materials alongside the speech. The Guardian reported that the documents were heavily redacted, making their contents difficult to assess, and that at least some appeared to undercut the idea that China intended to interfere in the 2020 election. CBS News reported that U.S. intelligence agencies have said no foreign powers, including China, tried to interfere with ballots or vote-counting.

Trump also alleged that voting machines and ballot-counting systems are “extremely exposed to attack” by foreign adversaries, including Russia, China and Iran. “They’re vulnerable and they’re easily compromised, and people within our government knew that,” he said. CBS News reported that some documents cited by the White House were tied to a company that is largely not used in the United States, and that experts say voting machines are subject to intense controls.

In another claim, Trump said the Department of Homeland Security had identified about 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote. He did not say whether any had voted or affected any election result. David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, told CBS News the claim should be taken “with a great big grain of salt” because the administration “has not shown its work.” He said the data could create false positives and include eligible voters.

Trump also cited a Michigan investigation into voter-registration applications submitted with fake names by canvassers linked to a Democratic-affiliated operation. The Guardian reported that the incident in Muskegon did not result in illegitimate ballots being cast and was caught by a local clerk.

Democrats accused Trump of trying to undermine confidence in the midterms, which will determine control of Congress. “Let’s be clear — in America, voters choose their leaders, not the other way around,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer posted on social media. Former Vice President Kamala Harris wrote that Trump “wants you to lose confidence in our electoral system so you stay home this November.”

Trump ended by urging lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, require photo ID to cast a ballot and ban most mail voting. The legislation has been stalled in the Senate for months.