The president Donald Trump delivered a prime-time speech on Thursday from the East Room of the White House, where he presented declassified intelligence documents on election security and stated that the U.S. electoral system "falls catastrophically below" an accurate and fair standard.
The White House simultaneously published dozens of documents on the official site whitehouse.gov/election-integrity, covering everything from vulnerabilities in voting machines to alleged attempts by China to acquire and exploit data from U.S. voters.
The most striking claim of the speech was that China carried out "the largest election data breach in history," illegally obtaining 220 million voter records including names, addresses, phone numbers, and political affiliations.
Trump also stated that an analysis by the Department of Homeland Security identified 278,000 non-citizens registered to vote in federal elections, and added that "since Democratic states refused to share their voter files, the actual number is actually much higher."
The president also accused members of the intelligence community and the so-called "Deep State" of having concealed evidence regarding Chinese interference.
"They worked to actively suppress and minimize information about the extent of China's sinister electoral interference, concealing it from both the president and the American people in a way that no one thought possible," he stated.
As a result, Trump ordered the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the FBI, and the CIA to investigate —and potentially prosecute— any official who attempted to conceal intelligence related to the elections.
He also instructed the FBI to reinvestigate allegations of fraudulent voter registrations in Muskegon, Michigan, a case that was already reviewed during the Biden administration.
However, the U.S. intelligence community concluded in 2021 that China did not attempt to influence the 2020 elections to change their outcome.
A report from 2020, partially declassified in 2022, documented that Chinese intelligence officials analyzed voter registration data from several states for "public opinion analysis," but did not alter any records or electoral systems.
The Chinese embassy in Washington categorically rejected the accusations. The spokesperson Liu Chang stated, "China has never interfered and will never interfere in the U.S. presidential elections. China has always adhered to the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. The elections in the U.S. are an internal matter of that country, and their outcome is determined by the votes of the American people."
In the legislative arena, Trump urged the Senate to pass the Save America Act, claiming it would "secure the midterm elections" for Republicans. However, senators from his own party acknowledged that the bill has little chance of passing the upper chamber, having been blocked in March 2026. The Supreme Court also halted part of Trump's electoral offensive last June by allowing late mail-in ballots.
The ABC and NBC networks refused to interrupt their regular programming to broadcast the speech live, sparking anger from the White House.
The speech comes less than four months before the midterm elections on November 3, 2026, in which all 435 House seats and about 35 Senate seats are at stake. Polls indicate a challenging scenario for the Republicans: 50% of Americans would prefer a Democratic Congress compared to 42% who prefer a Republican one, according to NBC News.
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