Trump accuses intelligence community of hiding China election info

President Donald Trump on Thursday night accused members of the U.S. intelligence community of operating a “shadow government” that allegedly concealed evidence of Chinese efforts to influence U.S. elections and seized newly declassified emails that he said reveal a bitter internal dispute over how Beijing’s activities should be characterized.

Trump did not claim that China switched votes or altered the election results. Instead, he argued, Beijing was waging an influence campaign aimed at shaping U.S. public perception.

Trump claimed that intelligence officials kept important reports out of presidential briefings, highlighting an email in which a National Security Agency analyst allegedly wrote, “We intentionally stretched a pending (presidential daily briefing) to avoid any direct connection to the election.”

“Those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and secret,” Trump said. “They didn’t explain it to me as president or to anyone else.”

TRUMP SAID DECLASSIFIED ELECTION INTELLIGENCE REVEALED ‘SHOCKING VULNERABILITY’

Trump used the remarks to pressure Congress to pass the RELIEVE America Act, citing newly released intelligence as evidence that lawmakers need to tighten federal election rules before the midterm elections.

“Most importantly, addressing this election security crisis requires Congress to pass the SAVE America Act,” Trump said. “These reforms are urgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities I mentioned.”

The SAVE America Act passed the House in February, but stalled in the Senate in March after a 53-47 vote fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance the legislation. Trump urged Americans to call their senators and representatives and demand the legislation be passed “without delay.”

The White House stands in front of US President Donald Trump addressing the nation from the White House on July 16, 2026 in Washington, DC, USA. (REUTERS/Kylie Cooper)

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The legislation would require documented proof of citizenship to register for federal elections, photo identification to vote, and ongoing state efforts to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls. Absentee voters will be required to present a copy of appropriate photo identification when requesting and returning an absentee ballot.

Trump also called for the elimination of voting by mail except in cases of illness, disability, military deployment or travel. The current text of the SAVE America Act does not include this ban; Allows absentee voting subject to identification requirements.

Trump urged Americans to call their representatives and demand the bill be passed “without delay.”

Newly released emails show analysts disagree over whether alleged Chinese influence operations and intelligence gathering are clearly linked to the election. After the NSA analyst described the “massage” in the President’s Daily Brief, other intelligence officials questioned the decision; one wrote “mind-blowing”, while the other called the approach “pretty disorganized”.

Gualala, CA, July 4, 2020 – A person who submits a mail-in ballot to the United States to vote in an election.

According to a November 2020 email, an official claimed that the intelligence community “intentionally avoided mention of a connection to the elections for unsubstantiated reasons.” This official sought to reconnect the intelligence to an assessment of election security and avoid what another described as a “failure of analytical objectivity.”

But the documents do not prove Trump’s broader claim of a politically motivated conspiracy. Instead, they offer conflicting intelligence assessments of whether China’s actions amount to an effort to influence the presidential contest or a broader campaign focused on U.S. policies, public opinion and issues important to Beijing.

Trump went further Thursday, claiming that an FBI official wrote that he was running a “shadow government” to prevent Chinese intelligence from being made public.

The Chinese embassy could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Trump on Thursday ordered the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Justice, the FBI and the CIA to investigate why the intelligence was withheld, fire anyone found to have participated in the cover-up and file criminal charges “if appropriate.”

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said in response to the address: “Americans heard the president once again repeat claims about our elections that have been investigated for years and repeatedly rejected by the Intelligence Community.”