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U.S. President Donald Trump announced the immediate declassification of documents that he claims show intelligence officials withheld information about alleged Chinese interference in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.
Speaking in a televised address from the White House, Trump said the documents cover five areas of concern, including alleged voter data theft, election system vulnerabilities, and the suppression of intelligence related to China.
According to Trump, dozens of CIA and NSA reports on what he described as targeted Chinese election interference were excluded from his daily presidential intelligence briefings.
Among his claims, Trump said China:
- obtained 220 million U.S. voter records;
- purchased or stole voter data from millions of Americans across 18 states;
- sought to influence the 2018 midterm and 2020 presidential elections;
- paid U.S. journalists to publish more negative coverage of his presidency;
- wanted him to lose the 2020 election because of his tariffs on Chinese goods;
- carried out what he called the largest theft of election data in U.S. history.
Trump also asserted that adversaries including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea possess the capability to disrupt U.S. election infrastructure.
However, U.S. intelligence assessments released in 2021 concluded with high confidence that while China conducted cyber and influence operations to advance its global interests, it did not attempt to alter the outcome of the 2020 presidential election or interfere with election infrastructure, including vote-counting systems.
