US President Donald Trump is set to deliver a primetime speech on Thursday focused on election security, a move that will again place his long-running attacks on voting systems and election administration at the centre of the political debate just months before the November midterms.

The address comes as Republicans face an uneven electoral landscape, with Democrats needing only three Republican-held seats to win control of the House of Representatives. The fight for the Senate remains far more difficult.

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The papers on the president’s desk

The White House has also been weighing whether Trump’s remarks should include sensitive intelligence related to China’s intention or ability to interfere in the US election.

Sources told Reuters that the intelligence did not show Beijing manipulated or changed votes. Some Trump officials worried the material could be misleading.

A White House task force led by conservative journalist John Solomon has spent the past several weeks reviewing documents on the matter ahead of the speech.

The tug of war

Trump has for years repeated false claims that his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden was rigged, along with assertions that mail-in ballots are vulnerable to fraud, voting machines are insecure and non-citizen voting is widespread.

Numerous courts and vote recounts found no evidence of large-scale fraud in the 2020 election.

The renewed focus on election security also reflects Trump’s broader effort, since returning to office in January 2025, to expand federal influence over election administration, which is constitutionally handled by states.

He has pressed Senate Republicans to advance the SAVE America Act, which would require photo identification to vote, proof of US citizenship to register and the sharing of voter registration information with the federal government.

Democrats and voting rights advocates have argued that voter fraud is rare and that the proposal would suppress legitimate votes.

Will Trump’s speech reshape the midterm narrative?

Some senior Republicans have urged Trump to focus on issues such as inflation and the cost of living instead of revisiting the 2020 election.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune said he did not know what Trump would say but added, “The only thing I can tell you is we are focused on the 2026 election, at least I am, and I think most of my colleagues are.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, meanwhile, said Democrats were preparing for possible attempts to influence the November vote, saying, “They know they can’t win the election fair and square. So we don’t put it past them to try whatever they can.”

It was not immediately clear whether television networks would carry the speech live, a practice usually reserved for major addresses on national issues.

Some Democrats, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, urged broadcasters not to air it, arguing Trump is likely to repeat debunked election claims.

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said, “As usual, anonymous sources are speculating about what President Trump will say during his speech on Thursday evening. The truth is, nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say.”

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FAQs

Q1: Why is Donald Trump delivering a speech on election security?

Trump is scheduled to deliver the address ahead of the 2026 U.S. midterm elections as his administration weighs discussing intelligence related to alleged Chinese election interference in 2020.

Q2: Did U.S. intelligence find China changed votes in the 2020 election?

No, according to Reuters, the intelligence reviewed did not show that China manipulated or changed votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election.