WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump on Thursday spent considerable time accusing China of meddling in key U.S. elections during a prime-time speech he delivered to the nation from the White House.
Trump's allegations against China came despite easing tensions between the two countries and his agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping two months ago to establish a constructive and stable bilateral relationship.
Trump's unproven claims regarding China included its "illicit acquisition of 220 million U.S. voter files" during the 2020 election cycle.
"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," he said. "This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare."
Trump has repeatedly insisted that the 2020 presidential election, which he lost, was stolen.
His raising once again of questions over the security of the United States' election infrastructure comes ahead of November's midterm congressional elections. The Republican president has been struggling with low approval ratings.
Following his agreement with Xi in mid-May in Beijing, Trump is slated to host the Chinese leader at the White House in September.
It is unclear whether Trump will face any repercussions for his harsh rhetoric against China, but the summit schedule could be affected by Beijing's reaction and how the latest accusations unfold.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian rejected Trump's claims, saying at a press conference Friday they are "completely groundless and malicious smears, which have long been proven to be nonsense."
Asked about any impact the claims would have on Xi's upcoming visit to the United States, Lin said Beijing urges Washington to refrain from making China an issue in its elections and do more to benefit Sino-U.S. relations.
This is not the first time Trump has alleged foreign interference, including by China, in American elections, having made similar claims when he was previously in office from 2017 to 2021.
However, a U.S. intelligence assessment, made available to the public in March 2021, found no evidence that China had improperly sought to influence the 2020 election.
On Thursday night, the White House launched a website it says is aimed at ensuring the integrity of U.S. elections, containing numerous declassified intelligence documents to back up Trump's claims.
During the speech, Trump slammed U.S. television networks that opted not to air his remarks live and threatened to revoke their broadcast licenses.
