Chinese interference, the 2020 elections, the media: what to remember from Donald Trump's speech last night

Donald Trump In a televised address from the White House late Thursday night, the president focused on the integrity of the American electoral system. During the approximately 25-minute speech, he made numerous announcements, notably accusing China of carrying out "the largest election data breach in history" and promising the declassification of intelligence documents.

Trump announces the declassification of documents on the American elections

From the outset of his speech, Donald Trump stated his intention to declassify information held by US intelligence agencies regarding the elections. According to him, these documents would reveal "shocking vulnerabilities" in the electoral system as well as possible foreign interference. However, the president did not specify which documents would be made public or by what deadline.

Serious accusations against China

The most significant announcement in his speech concerned Beijing. Donald Trump claimed that China had conducted a massive hacking operation since the 2020 presidential election, illegally obtaining the data of nearly 220 million American voters.

The US president indicated that he had asked the director of national intelligence and the FBI to open an investigation to establish the extent of possible Chinese interference in the US elections.

At this stage, the elements put forward by Donald Trump have not been made public and these accusations have not been corroborated by publicly available evidence.

Trump continues to contest the 2020 election

As he has done on numerous occasions over the past several years, Donald Trump reiterated that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" from him in favor of Joe BidenThis claim remains contested. The numerous legal challenges brought after the election, as well as several electoral audits and independent investigations, have not revealed any fraud that could have altered the election result.

Pressure on Congress over the "SAVE America Act"

The US president also called on Republican lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, a bill aimed at strengthening voter registration requirements and making it mandatory to show ID to vote. The bill, currently stalled in the Senate, lacks the supermajority needed to overcome the procedural hurdle. filibusterDonald Trump called for the removal of this rule in order to allow its adoption by a simple majority.

Supporters believe this reform would strengthen election security. Conversely, several civil rights organizations believe it could complicate voting access for certain categories of voters.

Attacks against several American media outlets

During his speech, Donald Trump also attacked several major American television networks. After criticizing NBC and ABC for not broadcasting his speech live, he suggested, without presenting any evidence, that these media outlets were involved in an attempt to cover up election fraud. The president went so far as to call for the revocation of their broadcasting licenses.

A press conference announced for Friday

Donald Trump finally indicated that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin would hold a press conference to present his department's work on alleged vulnerabilities in electronic voting systems. This intervention should provide further details on the president's announcements, particularly regarding the documents announced as declassified and the accusations leveled against China.