Trump Loudly Accuses 'Beijing of Election Interference,' But U.S. Intelligence and Experts Push Back

On the 16th, U.S. President Trump delivered a televised speech announcing the declassification of government intelligence documents, strongly accusing China of large-scale interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. However, according to fact-checking by Deutsche Welle and official assessments from the U.S. intelligence community, Trump's so-called 'historic disaster' lacks solid evidence, and the personal data files he cited are publicly available information that 'can be bought online for money.'

Trump currently faces mounting political pressure due to the Iran war and rising energy prices, with his approval ratings declining. Although he consistently emphasizes that the U.S. 'won decisively' in the Iran conflict and reiterated policies such as tax cuts and crackdowns on illegal immigration during the speech, the focus quickly shifted almost entirely to criticism of the election system.

'220 Million Voter Records Hacked' Claim

In his speech, Trump claimed: 'China carried out what is believed to be the largest election data breach in history, illegally obtaining 220 million American voter files, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and party affiliations. This election security disaster was indeed happening.' The White House website subsequently rolled out a pop-up window directing visitors to review these declassified documents.

However, Reuters, citing informed sources, pointed out that these so-called voter records were never classified. Political consultants and commercial entities can legally purchase voter rolls from individual states, and the related data was not manipulated. Declassified documents show that a Chinese national downloaded publicly available voter registration information from six U.S. states in January 2022, but also admitted that 'the motive for collection remains unclear.'

Charles Stewart, an election expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), stated after reviewing the documents released by the White House: 'There is currently no evidence in the publicly available content that any ballots were tampered with.'

Intelligence Community Pushback: Beijing Did Not Interfere

Trump's accusations also contradict official reports produced during his own administration. A 2021 intelligence community assessment report led by then-Director of National Intelligence and current CIA Director John Ratcliffe explicitly stated: 'There is no indication that any foreign actor attempted or succeeded in technically altering any aspect of the 2020 presidential election, including voter registration and vote tabulation results.'

The report assessed China with high confidence, concluding that Beijing determined maintaining stable U.S.-China relations outweighed any benefit from election interference, and therefore 'ultimately did not take actions intended to influence the outcome of the U.S. presidential election.' In contrast, intelligence officials named Russia as having favored Trump in both 2016 and 2020, and in 2020 launched a large-scale influence operation to undermine Biden.

In response to Trump's accusations, Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., stated: 'China has not interfered in the U.S. presidential election in the past, and will not do so in the future.'

Michigan Fraud Case Is an 'Ethereal Accusation'

In addition to accusing China, Trump revived an old case from Muskegon, Michigan, claiming that the Democratic Party's outsourced organization 'GBI Strategies' was suspected of forging signatures and collecting gift cards. However, the spokesperson for Michigan's top election official clarified to the media that these suspicious registration applications were legally intercepted by election staff immediately, 'none were successfully registered, and no one cast a ballot as a result.'

Furthermore, a 2025 investigation report completed by the FBI under the Trump administration itself confirmed that the agency did not instruct employees to falsify information, and after exhausting all leads, found no criminal activity or national security threat, officially closing the case.

As for Trump's claim that the Department of Homeland Security discovered '278,000 non-U.S. citizens illegally registered to vote,' the White House has so far been unable to explain the data's source. Documents obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) indicate that the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system found non-citizen registration rates at just 0.04%. Utah conducted a full audit of over 2 million voters statewide earlier this year and found only one case of non-citizen registration, with no actual votes cast. The bipartisan Policy Center also emphasized that non-citizen voting is extremely rare in the U.S.

Democrats: Paving the Way for a 'Legitimacy Crisis' in the 2026 Midterms

Trump's high-profile declassification and speech urging Congress to pass the 'SAVE America Act' aim to restrict mail-in voting. Sue Gordon, who served as Deputy Director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence during Trump's first term, criticized that while the U.S. intelligence community has remained highly vigilant against foreign interference, Trump previously dismissed such concerns and is now selectively using documents to amplify his narrative.

Joseph Morelle, the top Democratic member of the House Administration Committee and a New York congressman, issued a stern warning about Trump's motives: 'I believe the president is not reviewing the past, but laying the groundwork to question the results of the 2026 midterm elections, preemptively manufacturing a legitimacy crisis.' Morelle emphasized, 'America's current election system is very secure.'