President Donald Trump used a primetime address to the nation Thursday to elevate his yearslong push to raise doubts about the legitimacy of U.S. elections and dispute his 2020 loss in an appeal for more restrictive voting laws ahead of the midterms.
Trump’s amplification of debunked theories about the election six years ago and his inability to accept his loss led to one of the darker moments in American history when a mob of his supporters led a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in the final days of his first term.
Now back in power, Trump opted to revisit the subject, despite persistent voter concerns about the cost of living, American forces escalating strikes on Iran in a conflict for which there is no end in sight, and an immigration crackdown facing bipartisan scrutiny for its sometimes deadly tactics.
His address Thursday hinged on contradictions.
A twice-elected president complained about his one personal defeat, alleged a cover-up by officials in his own first administration and surfaced claims about countries attempting to harm his own prospects while staying silent on steps taken by other nations to boost him.
Trump used the remarks to justify his push to pass a strict voter ID bill in Congress that has not advanced because it lacks enough support from Republicans.
“America is back and doing really well, but we still have a major challenge that must be urgently addressed, because no country can be great without fair and honest elections,” he said.
Trump doesn’t raise doubts about his election wins
Trump began Thursday night with a stark warning about what he described as flaws in the voting system and said he was releasing previously classified documents related to the 2020 and 2018 elections, when he lost the presidential election and his party suffered losses.
Trump’s speech presented allegations of interference and influence in ways that lacked key context, and did not produce evidence that votes had been manipulated or that the election outcome had been altered.
No credible intelligence has emerged showing that the vote count in 2020 was manipulated by foreign actors. Repeated audits and reviews — many run by Republicans, including Trump’s own then-attorney general — have found no significant fraud occurred in 2020.
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Even if substantiated, Trump’s claims did not amount to conduct that would have altered the outcome of any race, let alone the 2020 race for the White House.
He also did not raise doubts about his election wins in 2016 or 2024.
As Trump spoke, the White House unveiled a website containing documents that were presented without context and included selectively released pieces of investigation files, intelligence analysis and correspondence.
Notably, Trump focused on China but glossed over Russia, a country that intelligence officials have said favored Trump in 2016 and 2020 and engaged in wide-ranging influence campaigns aimed at boosting him over Biden in the latter campaign.
Despite focusing on China in his speech, Trump did not criticize or issue a warning to Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he has long praised.
Former intelligence official calls address ‘dangerous’
Sue Gordon, principal deputy director of national intelligence in Trump’s first term, called the president’s address “a dangerous speech about an incredibly important topic.” She said the intelligence community throughout Trump’s first term was alarmed about foreign interference in elections, but Trump scoffed at them, angered at the investigation of his campaign’s relationship with Russia.
“He had an entire term to deal with it and I don’t know how you can believe how the same community that told him about it, that was excoriated about it” wouldn’t warn him in 2020, Gordon said on CNN.
Trump urged the Justice Department to conduct investigations and prosecutions, though it was unclear from his speech what sort of criminal conduct — if any — could be identified, proven and charged.
In a contrast with his concerns about foreign interference in elections, Trump in his new budget proposes a $707 million cut in the U.S. Cybsersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, the group charged with protecting American election systems from overseas cyberattacks. Trump and other conservatives have been frustrated that the organization pushed back on election claims in 2020 and beyond.
Some networks did not air it live
In past presidencies, primetime addresses have typically been reserved for major milestones or nationally significant events.
Trump last spoke to the nation in April, giving an address on the Iran war a month after it started. He said then that the U.S. would accomplish its objectives “very shortly” and that “the hard part is done, so it should be easy.” The war, however, has dragged on and strikes between the U.S. and Iran have intensified this week.
Trump also delivered a politically charged primetime speech in December in which he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats.
ABC, NBC and CNN did not air Thursday’s remarks live but carried them in full on their streaming services and said they would break into network coverage as needed.
CBS and MS NOW both cut away from Trump’s speech before he finished, while Fox News continued to carry his address.
Trump called out the media outlets for not carrying it live and accused them of being “part of a plot.”
Networks typically — but not always — carry presidential addresses to the nation live. In 2022, when President Joe Biden delivered a primetime address full of warnings about Trump and his adherents’ “extreme ideology,” the networks did not carry it live.
In 2014, the major networks chose to stick with their primetime programming instead of airing an address by President Barack Obama on his plans for immigration reform.
Democrats accuse Trump of seeking to discredit next election
Democrats warned that Trump was trying to revive false claims of past stolen elections in order to delegitimize the 2026 midterm elections, in which Trump’s Republican Party is facing headwinds.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia called Trump’s claims “totally bogus.”
“The fact is our intelligence agencies unanimously agreed that China did not even try to change a single vote in the 2020 election,” Warner said in a statement on X. “A single concurring opinion suggested China may have tried to sway voters’ opinions … but that’s been public knowledge since 2021.”
Rep. Joseph Morelle of New York, the ranking Democrat on the administration committee that handles federal voting issues and elections, said Trump is trying to sow confusion before the midterm elections.
“This is a pretext for the president, I think, calling into dispute the 2026 elections,” Morelle said on C-SPAN, adding that “we have secure elections.”
“I heard no concrete allegations that foreign actors actually changed the results of an American election,” Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said on CNN.
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Lisa Mascaro and Will Weissert in Washington and Jocelyn Noveck in New York contributed to this report.
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Trump warns Iran ‘better behave’ as countries trade strikes in Middle East -
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Trump resumes ICE traffic stops despite fatal shootings in Texas, Maine
Just more raving from the ol’ conman, felon and grifter down south
Thanks TRUMP! The lefturds sooner be on knees in front of supreme leader sucking
Nobody pays attention to Loser Trump anymore. The more chaos he creates in Murrika as a diversion to Epstein, the better off Canada will be.
Interesting that I can do more thorough research than these journalists. They released the documents referenced in his speech at whitehouse.gov
Crazy how petit the journalistic practices are in Canada from so called “media” networks 🤣
You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. Disgusting, lackluster performance once again.
Why are you not focusing on all the other lies he told in this speech everything he said was wrong
A moronic, whiny A+ Loser
The exact same twisting of facts from all leftist media. Why is that…?
Objective measures like world democracy indices indicate the US scores low relative to its G7 counterparts due to gerrymandering, money in politics, etc.
The courys have already confirmed fraud
They just claim it didnt effect the election which is irrelevant if tackling fraud is the intent
In this life, reputation is everything and Trump has done has done a great job destroying Americas reputation as a reliable ally and trading partner…no one trusts America anymore…
Democrats states like California actually make it illegal to ask for ID when voting. Imagine trying to pass a bill that would require viewer ID to vote ? Sounds fascist to me because I have TDS
Liar, liar, liar. Watch out Americans, this man has hidden motives and none of them are good for you.
The world is laughing at you more than the history of the US! Trump you can go back to feeding on your mommy seeing as you’re already back to diapers.
Here he goes. The manipulation has begun. The only question about these elections should be whether he makes it alive or not.
Somehow, someway, Trump needs to be stopped permanently. And his damned regime! Time for his family and him to lose everything, if they get killed in the process, so be it. They have brought misery to everyone across the globe.
We shouldn’t have democracy unless trump wins bigly.
Trump’s speech last night had the exact same energy as Pam Bondi clutching her ‘Epstein File’ binders on Fox News. Days of teasing ‘shocking bombshells’ only to drop a rehash of old grievances and redacted White House printouts that don’t show a single altered vote. No wonder the major TV networks refused to carry it live. The administration is running a predictable pattern: pump up the MAGA base with promises of a massive exposure, deliver zero actual evidence, and then act surprised when the rest of the world calls out the empty hype.
300 thousand illegals and 400 thousand dead on the voter rolls . And no id to vote ! Complete joke of a system! And this so called journalist had a massive case of TDS !
@maga Trump has bone spurs.
China interferes with Canadian elections too, among many other things
Complains of election interference, yet has kidnapped the President of Venezuela and murdered Iran’s leaders.
What a loser
Leave MAGA traitors!
Keep up the good work Trump! I have an intense hatred of the left.See you on the battlefield one day .
Trump keeps attacking Iran, and Iran returns the fire. Obviously Trump does not understand that he lost his war. Yes, the bigger bully knocked the stuffing out of the big targets, and he murdered the leader. But the strait is still closed, and his blockade is ensuring that it stays closed.
That is putting pressure on the gas and oil prices, and knocking the stock markets. Another article pointed out the US mortgage rate is the highest it has ever been.
So much for ‘we can solve a number of the American people’s problems” Trump and his tantrums are their biggest problem.
Great video….but to read your artical shows your hate for trump….one side garbage artical lol….
If Trump is correct and he actually won the 2020 election he would not be President today… just sayin.
TDS infected Canadians, and they are legion in the comments, have difficulty doing anything but ad hominem anti Trump scrawl in part because many of the pieces of the SAVE act are already applied in Canada
Conspiracies? Thanks for the bias. Rigging of elections with ballot harvesting and mail in ballot fraud is a real problem. Continual partisan ignorance over these issues is unhelpful to democracy
What the headline is saying is it is not a conspiracy theory anymore and the evidence shows it was a conspiracy.
You have to look at it first.
FDT
TRUMP 2028, make Canada great again.
I’m sure it’s all going to be hatred and rage that’s president taco
Fred is a TDS sufferer. Trump isn’t fit to run a country but was far better choice then the idiot they ran against him. Sore loser? Been president twice, win all swing states, has managed to double his bet worth etc. Buy yes Fred facts don’t care about your feelings.
Elbows up
Trump is a sore loser and will always be. He just moved up one spot and is now ranked as the THIRD WORSE president in US history. Of course, his address will just highlight the worse things he has done. ICE, Iranian War, Inflation, and misspending taxpayers money are just a few, while he is receiving billions of dollars for himself and his family. I feel so sorry for the Americans. He surely is deranged to even rant about events happened 6 years ago. Give it up.