In a 23-minute primetime address, the US President said his administration will work with state governments to strengthen election security.
Washington: President Trump argued that the US election system is dangerously exposed to hacking and manipulation, adding that it falls “catastrophically short” of the security Americans deserve.
In his address to the nation on Thursday, he backed the claim with long-disputed allegations about his 2020 loss to former President Joe Biden, arguing that without major changes, November’s midterms are vulnerable to being “rigged and stolen.”
The "disclosures reveal an election system so broken and so vulnerable that no one can possibly defend it. It is not defensible," Trump said in his primetime address to the nation, arguing that the electoral system is fundamentally flawed.
Trump described the current voting and mail-in system as “not defensible,” claiming hundreds of millions of American voter files have ended up in foreign governments’ hands and that vote-counting machines remain exposed to hacking and manipulation.
He claimed that a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) investigation identified approximately 278,000 non-citizens registered on state voter rolls for federal elections.
Further, he said that a US intelligence assessment concluded adversaries including Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and non-state groups can compromise American election infrastructure.
The US leader alleged that China gained access to sensitive US election data, renewing his long-standing claims that the 2020 presidential election was compromised. “Over a period of years, starting during the 2020 election cycle, the People’s Republic of China carried out what is believed to be the largest compromise of election data in history, resulting in China’s illicit acquisition of 220 million US voter files."
Reiterating his longstanding criticism of electronic voting systems, Trump argued that voting machines are vulnerable to cyberattacks and again called for a return to paper ballots.
The President stressed that his administration will work with state governments and local election officials to strengthen election security, claiming the voting system has significant flaws in many parts of the country.
"We're in the process of informing governors, senators, and members of Congress of potential issues in their states," Trump said, adding, "If you look at voting today, it's in such bad shape in so many states, and we are committing to fix it."
A key part of Trump's election agenda is the proposed SAVE America Act, backed by Republican lawmakers. The legislation would require documentary proof of US citizenship to register to vote, mandate voter identification, and expand information sharing between states and the federal government to help verify voter rolls.
Since returning to the White House in January 2025, President Trump has pushed for stricter election laws, including mandatory photo identification for voters and proof of US citizenship during voter registration.
