Trump says US election is ‘worse than any third world country’
President Trump said Americans have been “blatantly lied to” for years about the security of election infrastructure, including voting machines.
President Donald Trump sought to further stoke distrust in U.S. elections in a prime-time speech on July 16, alleging widespread vulnerabilities in the voting system and the potential for interference from other countries.
President Trump singled out China in particular, claiming that China interfered in the 2020 election process.
“Every American has the right to know that when they vote, their vote will be accurately counted in a system that makes that system secure, one that makes cheating and interference not only difficult, but virtually impossible,” he said. “Unfortunately, the systems we use today fall catastrophically short of that standard.”
The president claimed that new declassified documents will show that China tried to undermine the 2020 election in a variety of ways, including leaking U.S. voter data. He also said that for years Americans have been “blatantly lied to” by the government about the security of election infrastructure such as voting machines and vote-counting systems.
“They were vulnerable and easily compromised, and people in the government knew that,” Trump said.
But most of the documents released by the White House did not support the president’s sweeping claims about “shocking vulnerabilities” in America’s elections.
Rather, much of the information Mr. Trump spoke about was based on known reports showing that voter files obtained by China (names, addresses, party preferences, etc.) are publicly available records.
The allegations show the president is once again fixated on his loss to former President Joe Biden six years ago, which he continues to deny. It also confirms the White House’s focus on election integrity with the 2026 midterm elections just four months away.
Here are key takeaways from Thursday’s speech:
President Trump alleges Chinese interference and ‘deep state’ cover-up
Trump’s most important claim about election security was that China was interfering in multiple U.S. elections, including the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden.
President Trump, citing a trove of declassified intelligence documents, said China tried to undermine the 2020 election by compromising U.S. voter data and that 220 million voter files were stolen. He also said China is trying to influence American business leaders and journalists.
“They fought tooth and nail for Donald Trump to win, and for good reason,” Trump said.
President Trump’s condemnation of Chinese election interference came after he visited China in May to meet with President Xi Jinping, whom he calls a “friend” and “great leader.”
In his remarks, President Trump claimed that the so-called “deep state” within the government covered up Chinese election interference during his first term in office. When Trump was president in 2020, he criticized his own intelligence agencies, saying, “Those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and covered it up.”
But President Trump’s claims contradict previous intelligence assessments that China did not seek to interfere in the 2020 election.
In March 2021, the Biden administration’s Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, released a report stating that the intelligence community had “high confidence” that China did not attempt to interfere in the 2020 U.S. election and was considering attempts to change the outcome of the election, although it did not occur.
Ultimately, China does not consider a win for either Biden or Trump to be advantageous enough to risk being captured, according to the council’s March 2021 report on foreign threats in elections.
The National Intelligence and Cyber Officer expressed a “minority opinion” that China had taken some steps to undermine President Trump’s re-election chances, primarily through social media and public statements, as detailed in the report.
President Trump expresses support for SAVE America Act
The president reiterated that Congress must move quickly on the SAVE America Act, a powerful voting bill that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.
Trump’s top legislative priority comes ahead of a bleak Republican political forecast this fall that could wipe out their majority in Congress, largely due to Trump’s low approval rating of about 37%, experts said.
“Most importantly, we need Congress to pass the Save America Act to address this crisis of election security,” Trump said in a roughly 25-minute speech.
“How easy it is if you don’t want to cheat,” he added. “The only reason not to do that is because the policies are so bad and the candidates are so pathetic that they can’t get away with it, or because they can’t get elected any other way and want to cheat.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying to pass the bill during the budget process, but it remains unclear whether the tactic will even garner enough votes to pass in the Senate.
“I ask every American to pick up the phone tomorrow and call their representatives in the House and Senate and demand that they pass the American Rescue Act without delay,” President Trump said. “Together, we will restore trust and confidence in this country and emerge bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
Will Trump and Vance face off in the midterm elections?
While it remains uncertain whether President Trump will be able to pass the American Rescue Act through Congress, his second in command are not singing the same hymn when discussing the urgency of interim results.
“Of course we will support the results of the midterm elections,” Vice President J.D. Vance said on July 15 after a meeting with House Republicans.
“I think we will win, but ultimately it’s up to the American people.”
The vice president’s comments contrast with Trump’s appearance earlier this year on a podcast hosted by former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino, in which he said that if the SAVE America Act was not passed by the fall election, Republicans would “never win another election.”
Vance recently observed that many political commentators are looking for their own path to the 2028 presidential election. But more than a dozen people close to the White House told USA TODAY that President Trump is not convinced that the vice president will be the next Republican nominee.
He cited the possibility of “fraud” that lawmakers should help avoid, but acknowledged that with less than four months until November, “the process has already begun” for the midterm elections. However, following Trump’s comments, the vice president joined several other administration officials online in reiterating his support for the bill.
“Election integrity is an American issue, not a partisan issue,” Vance said in a July 16 post on X.
“Let’s come together to pass the SAVE America Act and ensure every American’s right to vote in free and fair elections is protected.”
Democrats claim the president is trying to “rig” midterm elections
The president’s Democratic rivals slammed Thursday’s speech, calling it a blatant attempt to undermine the U.S. election system ahead of crucial midterm elections.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost to Trump in the 2024 presidential election, proactively said that Biden was “spreading lies and conspiracy theories” about the election he won six years ago.
“The 2020 election was not stolen,” she said in a post to X. “We won and he lost.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a video message ahead of his speech that the president’s comments would be “filled with frustration and outright lies.” “Most polls conducted this year asking voters the general question of which party candidate they will support this fall show Democrats in the lead. Mr. Trump knows he cannot defend the Republican Party’s dismal record, so he is trying to discredit the voters who will judge him in November.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) also criticized President Trump on social media, calling him “calm” and “pathetic.”
“Donald Trump is a weak, conspiracy-mongering, 80-year-old failed president,” Jeffries said in a post on X. “The economy is a disaster under this man, and the American people know it.”
President Trump slams network for refusing to give air speech
Ahead of the speech, both ABC and NBC decided not to broadcast President Trump’s speech live on their networks, instead broadcasting it on their respective streaming platforms.
The decision infuriated the president, who repurposed portions of the speech to declare that both networks should have their government-issued licenses revoked as a result.
“They and members of the media are part of a conspiracy,” Trump said. “They want to keep this scam going for some reason. They want to keep doing it.”
Much of Mr. Trump’s return to power has been defined by clashes with news organizations, media companies and celebrities who he criticized and ridiculed on television.
Since hosting Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico on “The View” in February, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr has been closely monitoring networks such as ABC, which have come under scrutiny for their diversity and equal time commitments.
President Trump said in a July 16 speech that “misconduct like this should mean the loss of your license.” “They’re using billions of dollars worth of public airways for absolutely nothing. They’re not paying anything. All we want is integrity and honesty and reporting in our elections. They’re not paying anything for billions of dollars of assets.”
Contributor: Terry Collins
