President Donald Trump accused China of interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, calling for intelligence disclosures and ordering security agencies to investigate, despite denials from U.S. intelligence and the Chinese government. Democrats and analysts say this is a political game to divert attention and lay groundwork to reject midterm election results, potentially affecting U.S.-China relations.
President Donald Trump delivered a speech from the White House on Thursday evening (16 Jul) U.S. time, accusing China of interfering in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden. He described the U.S. election system as having "serious vulnerabilities" that expose it to foreign hacking and interference.
Trump said, "No country can be great if its elections are not fair and transparent," and announced the release of previously classified intelligence documents, claiming they reveal weaknesses in U.S. election infrastructure. However, he did not present evidence confirming that China changed election results or vote counts.
The U.S. leader directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice, the FBI, and the CIA to investigate why this intelligence was concealed, and to prosecute those involved if wrongdoing is found. Trump also urged Congress to pass the Save America Act, which mandates strict voter identity verification as a measure to prevent election fraud.
Trump's claims contradict assessments by multiple U.S. intelligence agencies, including a 2021 report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, which found no evidence that any country, including China, attempted or succeeded in altering vote counts, ballots, tallies, or the 2020 presidential election outcome.
Previously, U.S. officials under the Trump administration had stated that the 2020 election was among the most secure in the nation's history.
Before the speech, Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., affirmed, "China has never and will never interfere in U.S. presidential elections," while the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not issued any further statements following Trump's remarks.
The Democratic Party immediately criticized Trump, saying he was spreading information that had already been reviewed and dismissed, aiming to create a pretext to challenge the November midterm election results.
Mark Warner, Vice Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that intelligence agencies, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, election officials from both parties, and the courts have investigated these allegations for years without finding supporting evidence.
Kamala Harris, former Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, posted on social media, "The 2020 election was not stolen. We won, and Trump lost," accusing the Save America Act of being an attempt to restrict citizens' voting rights.
Analysts view Trump's latest accusations as potentially putting pressure on U.S.-China relations, which had begun recovering after both sides reached a temporary trade war truce last year. Previously, Trump spoke positively about President Xi Jinping and invited the Chinese leader to visit Washington in September, though China has yet to confirm the visit.
However, some analysts believe the speech primarily serves domestic political purposes rather than signaling changes in policy toward China, noting Trump did not announce additional sanctions or economic measures against Beijing.
Meanwhile, major U.S. television networks including NBC, ABC, and CNN chose not to broadcast the speech live on their main channels, citing concerns over the political and divisive nature of its content. Trump responded by calling for these networks' broadcast licenses to be revoked.