In a speech from the White House on Thursday evening, US President Donald Trump revisited widely debunked claims of interference during the 2020 US presidential election that he lost to Joe Biden.

Trump has repeatedly and falsely claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Dozens of court cases have found no proof of large-scale electoral fraud.

Critics accuse the US president of trying to cast doubt over the upcoming midterm elections in November, in which his Republican Party could lose majorities in one or both houses of Congress.

In his latest accusation of fraud, Trump claimed that China had carried out what he described as "the largest compromise of election data in history." He alleged that Beijing obtained access to information from 220 million US voter files before the 2020 election.

He said he would order an investigation into alleged Chinese interference in US elections, and would "declassify" intelligence documents he claims reveal major vulnerabilities in voting systems.

Trump did not make clear how the alleged Chinese access to voter files could have helped then-candidate Biden win the election. 

Trump says election systems 'exposed to manipulation and corruption'

He began his primetime address by casting doubt on US election security, claiming it "falls catastrophically short."

But the 24-minute speech did not include evidence of vote manipulation or of the election outcome being altered.

Trump said he had ordered the director of national intelligence and the FBI to investigate the allegations and determine the full extent of the alleged data breach.

As he spoke, the White House launched a website with documents presented without context that included selectively released pieces of investigation files, intelligence analysis and correspondence.

The president argued that the claims demonstrate that "the US electoral system is exposed to manipulation and corruption."

He added that federal authorities are in the process of notifying states whose election data may have been compromised.

Trump also renewed his call for stricter election security measures, urging Congress to pass the SAVE Act, which would introduce voter photo ID requirements, require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and expand federal access to voter registration data.

No mention of Russian interference

However, Trump did not mention the possibility of any outside influence on the elections he won in 2016 and 2024.

In 2018, a bipartisan investigation based on US intelligence community findings revealed an extensive and multi-layered attempt by Russia to interfere in the 2016 presidential election, which included "undermining public faith in the US democratic process." 

Trump briefly mentioned Russia during his speech Thursday night, but only in reference to an alleged "grand conspiracy" by political rivals to falsely tie his first administration to Moscow.

Trump alleges 'plot' after several networks did not broadcast speech live

ABC and NBC chose not to air Trump's speech live on their main broadcast channels, instead carrying it on streaming platforms. CNN made the address available online and on its subscription service.

The decision limited the speech's reach compared with traditional television broadcasts.

Primetime presidential addresses are generally reserved for critical events like wars, national crises or natural disasters. 

But networks can decline to air addresses deemed overly political. Networks in the past also chose not to broadcast speeches by Biden and former President Barack Obama.

During the address, Trump criticized television networks that chose not to broadcast the speech live, saying they should lose their licenses. Trump accused the media outlets that did not broadcast the speech of being "part of a plot."

Democrats, China push back on Trump's allegations

Trump's claims on a lack of US election integrity drew immediate criticism from political opponents and raised concerns within his own administration.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, dismissed the allegations.

"Trump's shocking 'bombshells' about China are totally bogus," Warner said. He argued that US intelligence agencies had concluded that China did not attempt to alter any votes in the 2020 election.

Reuters also reported that some White House officials worried the release of the intelligence could be misleading.

Meanwhile, China rejected the allegations, with embassy spokesperson Liu Chang stating, "China has never and will never interfere in the presidential elections of the US."

Trump's remarks risk adding tension to US-China relations at a time when the president is seeking a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year to discuss trade ties.

Trump alleges intelligence officials withheld China findings

Trump claimed that members of the US intelligence community deliberately withheld information about China's alleged election-related activities.

However, his assertions conflict with a 2021 intelligence community assessment, which found no evidence that any foreign actor attempted to alter or successfully change "any technical aspect" of the 2020 presidential election, including voter registrations, ballots, vote tabulations or results.

However, the assessment says that Russia carried out "influence operations aimed at denigrating President Biden's candidacy and the Democratic Party, supporting former President Trump, undermining public confidence in the electoral process, and exacerbating sociopolitical divisions in the US."

The assessment was conducted under John Ratcliffe, who was director of national intelligence during Trump's first term and now serves as CIA director.

Repeated audits and reviews — including several managed by Republicans, including Trump's then-attorney general — have also found no significant fraud occurred in 2020. 

Among the documents released by the administration was a CIA report describing Chinese efforts to gather information on Joe Biden's campaign.

The report also stated that Beijing "does not currently intend to covertly interfere to try to sway the outcome of the election," while noting that China could decide to do so at a later stage.

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Edited by: Sean Sinico and Karl Sexton