“In mid 2019, the Chinese government strategy against the United States was focused on undermining domestic confidence in the U.S president. They wanted to just make you sound like your president wasn’t so hot when actually your president has done a great job, and they did everything possible to do exactly that,” Trump said.
He further alleged, citing a CIA document, that Beijing sought to undermine confidence in his presidency and influence US business leaders and journalists against him.Also Read: China’s Moonshot unveils world’s largest open AI model, closing in on US rivals
The stern accusation against China comes just a day after a Pew survey revealed China and its President Xi Jinping’s leadership is becoming increasingly more popular across at least 32 countries while that of Trump’s and the US declined.
He also criticised members of US intelligence agencies for suppressing information about the alleged Chinese interference, claiming that reports were withheld from his presidential briefings. He asked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Department of Justice, FBI and CIA to investigate why the information was allegedly withheld, fire officials found to have been involved in a cover-up and pursue criminal charges where appropriate.
The President also claimed previously classified US intelligence assessments showed that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea had the capability to compromise US election infrastructure, particularly voter-registration databases, electronic poll books and election websites.
‘Proof of citizenship to vote’
With the US heading towards midterm elections, Trump said his administration would work with state and local authorities to “fix and patch known technical vulnerabilities before the midterm elections”.
“We have very important elections coming up. We want those elections to be honest,” Trump said.
He also ordered the Department of Homeland Security to notify states about alleged non-citizens on voter rolls and called on Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, which he said would require photo identification and proof of citizenship for voters while sharply restricting mail-in voting.
In the same address, Trump also told the nation that the US was “winning big in Iran” and that Americans would see “the fruits of that labor very, very shortly”. He also said Washington was making a record investment in the military and claimed the US had “won in Venezuela”, which he said was now working with the US to produce millions of barrels of oil.
First Published: Jul 17, 2026 9:25 AM IS
