Five claims Trump made in primetime address not backed up by evidence

Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC on 16 July 2026. Photograph: Saul Loeb/Pool AFP/AP View image in fullscreen Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC on 16 July 2026. Photograph: Saul Loeb/Pool AFP/AP Five claims Trump made in primetime address not backed up by evidence US president offered litany of misleading and false claims during Thursday speech on alleged threats to US elections Donald Trump offered a litany of misleading and false claims during his Thursday speech on threats to US elections, and released previously classified documents to try to support his specious claims. In some cases, his claims were not supported by those documents. Here is a look at some of the key claims that could mislead the American public. 1. Claim: China hacked voter files Trump claimed in his speech that China had illicitly acquired the voter information of 220 million US voters beginning in 2020. “That information includes names, addresses, phone numbers, political party preferences and other sensitive data that would be needed to register to vote and engage in other nefarious activities, which is exactly what was happening,” Trump said. Nearly every US state allows members of the public to obtain public voter roll information. The information available varies by state, but many include a person’s party preference and address as part of what they release. The documents released by the White House regarding this claim are heavily redacted and do not provide clear evidence to back up the president’s claim. One document says that someone acting on behalf of China downloaded commercially available voter registration information from at least six states in 2022. Intelligence officials have long known about China’s efforts to collect voter data, according to the New York Times . Also, possessing that publicly available data does not mean that any votes were changed. “We heard from officials saying that, because China had this voter data, which almost everybody has, they could change voter registration records, and they could vote on behalf of people. That is 100% false,” said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, who specializes in election administration. “I could have a list of all the students at a particular university. That doesn’t mean I can change their grades. And that’s what’s happening here.” 2. Claim: Intelligence officials covered up information about China’s election meddling Trump also claimed in his speech that US intelligence officials conspired to keep information about China’s election meddling from him. In 2021, the National Intelligence Council released a report that concluded China had not interfered in the 2020 election. “We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US presidential election,” the report says, adding that it had a high deg