US President Donald Trump has declassified intelligence documents that he claims show China interfered in US elections, renewing his allegations over election security despite previous intelligence findings that found no evidence Beijing altered the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
Speaking in a 25-minute address on Thursday, Trump said the newly released material revealed that China had illegally obtained data from 220 million US voter files, including names, addresses and other voter registration information. He also alleged that members of the US intelligence community had deliberately concealed the extent of China’s activities.
The claims contradict a 2021 unclassified assessment by the US intelligence community, which concluded that no foreign government attempted to alter any technical aspect of the 2020 election, including voter registrations, ballots, vote counting or election results. The assessment was carried out under then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, who now serves as CIA director.
Trump’s remarks come as Republicans prepare for the November midterm elections, with the president making election security a key campaign issue. He has urged Congress to pass legislation requiring voter identification and proof of US citizenship for voter registration, arguing the measures are needed to protect election integrity.
Ahead of the speech, Reuters reported that some White House officials were concerned the release of the intelligence could be misleading. The renewed criticism of China also risks straining relations between Washington and Beijing, as Trump is seeking a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year to improve trade ties.
China swiftly rejected the allegations. Chinese embassy spokesperson Liu Chang said Beijing “has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the US.”
Trump has repeatedly maintained that the 2020 election, which he lost to former President Joe Biden, was marred by widespread fraud. However, multiple court rulings, election audits and recounts found no evidence of fraud on a scale that would have changed the result.
Several of the declassified documents also appeared to undermine Trump’s claims. One CIA report stated that vote tabulation systems would be difficult to manipulate on a scale large enough to affect election outcomes, while another concluded that China did not intend to covertly influence the 2020 election, although it noted Beijing could reconsider under different circumstances.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, vice-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, dismissed Trump’s claims as “totally bogus”, saying US intelligence agencies unanimously agreed that China did not attempt to alter a single vote in the 2020 election.
Earlier on Thursday, Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee urged US intelligence leaders not to allow intelligence to be used to support what they described as false claims about election security.
The renewed focus on election integrity comes as Republicans face political challenges ahead of the midterms. While Democrats need only a handful of seats to regain control of the House of Representatives, Republicans are also defending their Senate majority amid growing voter concerns over the economy, high energy prices and foreign policy.
