Trump to revive 2020 election fraud claims in televised address

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Donald Trump will give a televised address on Thursday about newly declassified intelligence on investigations into US elections and what the White House says are voting machine vulnerabilities.

The ⁠President is expected to use his speech to press his false claim again that he lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden due to massive fraud.

Propelled by Trump’s repeated claims that US elections are “rigged”, the administration has for over a year ⁠sought to increase federal oversight of election administration and reshape the way Americans vote – a plan that legal experts say would take power away from states in violation of the US Constitution.

Trump: "President Trump will be making a Speech to the Nation on Thursday evening, at 9 P.M. Eastern. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" pic.twitter.com/WxvptrppZ6 — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 13, 2026

With Republican control of Congress at stake in the November midterm elections, Democrats and some election security experts have expressed concerns that the Trump administration plans ⁠to interfere in those contests.

Trump ‘seeking means to challenge election losses’

By casting the 2020 election as illegitimate, Trump is laying the groundwork to challenge Republican losses and undermine Democrats ​if they ⁠win back power in Congress in November, election ‌experts have said.

An official told Reuters that Trump will discuss in his speech national elections and what the White House claims are voting machine flaws that could allow foreign cyber intrusion. The administration official said Trump would discuss ‌newly declassified intelligence related to the 2020 election.

Election officials say they are confident that machines are adequately secure and no evidence has been found of foreign intrusions that changed results of past elections.

Former US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard commissioned a report which outlined significant vulnerabilities in voting machines (Photo: Jose Luis Magana/AP)

A forensic analysis submitted last year by Mojave Research, a contractor hired by former director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, found flaws in voting machines seized in Puerto Rico but no evidence of hacking.

Gabbard, who resigned last month, also produced her own report that outlined significant vulnerabilities in voting machines and further safeguards, such as updating their software, that could be implemented, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The White House, however, has delayed releasing the report, and Trump has persisted in trying to prove that his 2020 defeat was due to fraud.

He appointed Bill Pulte last month as Gabbard’s interim replacement and said he had authorised Pulte to declassify documents related to the 2020 vote.

Task force to probe 2020 election

The White House also recently formed a task force to investigate elements of the 2020 election, three sources familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity. One source said ‌journalist John Solomon, a former Fox News contributor, is working on the effort.

Trump has repeatedly claimed, falsely, that he never lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden (Photo: Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty)

Solomon, the source said, has requested access ​to files related to an analysis that dissented from a US intelligence assessment in 2021 that found no indications that a ‌foreign actor had tried or succeeded in altering “any technical aspect” of ⁠the 2020 vote.

The unclassified version of the assessment judged that Vladimir Putin authorised parts of his government to conduct ⁠influence operations aimed at boosting the vote for Trump and undermining public confidence in the electoral process.

China considered conducting influence operations designed to change the election outcome but decided against ‌doing so, while Iran pursued a “multi-pronged” covert ​influence campaign to undercut Trump’s candidacy, the assessment said.