WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump used a primetime address to the nation Thursday to once again raise doubts about the results of past elections, reviving a subject he’s long used to make unproven claims and deny his loss in the 2020 election.
Trump鈥檚 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.
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.
No credible intelligence has emerged showing that the vote count in 2020 was manipulated by foreign actors. Repeated and — , including Trump鈥檚 — have found no significant fraud occurred in 2020.
He did not raise doubts about his election wins in 2016 or 2024.
鈥淎merica 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,鈥� he said.
He said all Americans should be assured their elections are free of cheating and interference.
鈥淯nfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard,鈥� Trump said.
Trump used the remarks to justify his push to pass a strict voter ID bill in Congress, saying it鈥檚 鈥渦rgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities that I鈥檝e mentioned.鈥�
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.
Trump鈥檚 fixation on six years ago and about it are things he still brings up regularly when discussing other subjects. But elevating the deeply political and conspiratorial topics to a presidential primetime address underscores the lengths to which Trump has used his second term to both blow past norms and fixate on old grievances.
Sue Gordon, principal deputy director of national intelligence in Trump鈥檚 first term, called the president鈥檚 address 鈥渁 dangerous speech about an incredibly important topic.鈥� She said the intelligence community throughout Trump鈥檚 first term was alarmed about foreign interference in elections, but Trump scoffed at them, angered at the investigation of his campaign鈥檚 relationship with Russia.
鈥淗e had an entire term to deal with it and I don鈥檛 know how you can believe how the same community that told him about it, that was excoriated about it鈥� wouldn鈥檛 warn him in 2020, Gordon said on CNN.
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.
Primetime presidential addresses are typically reserved for major milestones or nationally significant events.
Trump last did it in April to speak on the Iran war, . He said then that the U.S. would 鈥渧ery shortly鈥� and that 鈥渢he hard part is done, so it should be easy.鈥� The war, however, has dragged on and strikes between the U.S. and Iran have intensified this week.
Trump also delivered in December in which he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats.
Some networks did not air it live
At least some TV networks said Thursday they would not carry the speech live but would air it on their streaming services. ABC, NBC and CNN decided not to air the remarks live but to carry them in full on their streaming services and break into network coverage as needed.
CBS and MS NOW both cut away from Trump鈥檚 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 鈥減art of a plot.鈥�
Networks typically but don鈥檛 always choose to carry presidential addresses to the nation live. In 2022, when then-President Joe Biden delivered a primetime address full of warnings about Donald Trump and his adherents鈥� 鈥渆xtreme ideology,鈥� 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 then-President Barack Obama on his plans for immigration reform.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday afternoon seemed to be still trying to persuade networks to carry the remarks live, saying, 鈥淚 think that the mainstream media should air the president鈥檚 speech and allow the American people to draw their own conclusions from it.鈥�
Raising questions about the midterms
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鈥檚 Republican Party is facing headwinds.
Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia called Trump鈥檚 claims 鈥渢otally bogus.鈥�
鈥淭he fact is our intelligence agencies unanimously agreed that China did not even try to change a single vote in the 2020 election,鈥� Warner said in a statement on X. 鈥淎 single concurring opinion suggested China may have tried to sway voters鈥� opinions 鈥� but that鈥檚 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.
鈥淭his is a pretext for the president, I think, calling into dispute the 2026 elections,鈥� Morelle said on C-SPAN, adding that 鈥渨e have secure elections.鈥�
鈥淚 heard no concrete allegations that foreign actors actually changed the results of an American election,鈥� Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware said on CNN.
Leavitt didn鈥檛 answer a question Thursday about whether Trump would accept the results of the midterms, though Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Capitol Hill a day earlier that 鈥渙f course we鈥檙e gonna support the results of the midterm elections.鈥�
Vance bristled Wednesday when asked if he鈥檇 encourage Trump in his Thursday remarks to stay focused on November鈥檚 midterm elections rather than relitigate past elections. 鈥�’The unfounded claims,’鈥� Vance said, repeating the reporter’s language. “You鈥檙e basically assuming an answer in the very question that you ask.鈥�
Before he began speaking about elections, Trump started his speech by ticking through a long list of what he said were his administration鈥檚 accomplishments 鈥� including cutting drug prices.
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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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