U.S. President Donald Trump announced the immediate declassification of intelligence related to the 2020 presidential election on Thursday, alleging that China carried out what he described as the largest compromise of election data in U.S. history.
Speaking from the White House in a primetime address, Trump claimed the operation began during the 2020 election cycle and accused Beijing of attempting to influence the outcome of the election. He said he has directed the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the CIA and the FBI to investigate the matter further.
While for years a lot of election-interference accusations surrounding the 2016 presidential election focused on Russia, Trump argued that Moscow was wrongly blamed, claiming China posed the greater threat to U.S. elections. He accused members of the intelligence community of suppressing information about the alleged Chinese operation and said the newly declassified material would reveal the extent of the intelligence gathered.
The president said the administration would launch a dedicated White House website to publish the declassified documents and called on Congress to pass legislation aimed at strengthening election security ahead of future votes.
Trump has long maintained that foreign interference and election irregularities contributed to his defeat in the 2020 election.
However, previous assessments by U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that while foreign actors sought to influence public opinion, there was no evidence that voting systems or ballots were manipulated in a way that changed the election outcome.
The declassification order marks the latest effort by the Trump administration to revisit the 2020 election as Republicans continue to make election security a central political issue ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
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