President Donald Trump addresses the nation on election integrity in primetime White House speech
Follow live updates as President Donald Trump delivers a primetime address to the nation Thursday night. Trump says the speech will focus on election integrity and "free and fair elections," while also teasing additional announcements.
Trump says election security concerns demand passage of SAVE America Act
President Donald Trump argued during his primetime address Thursday that concerns about election security underscored the need for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act.
“How easy is that to do? Unless you want to cheat,” Trump said. “The only reason you wouldn't do it is you want to cheat because your policies are so bad, and your candidates are so pathetic that you can't get away or can't get elected any other way.”
The SAVE America Act would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, photo identification to cast a ballot in federal elections and additional measures aimed at removing noncitizens from voter rolls.
“To all Americans, I ask you to pick up your phone tomorrow, call your representatives in the House and Senate, and demand that they pass the SAVE America Act without delay,” Trump said.
Warner: 'The facts have not changed' after Trump's election speech
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., pushed back Thursday on President Donald Trump's repeated claims about the 2020 election, arguing they had long been rejected by the U.S. intelligence community.
Trump used his primetime White House address to outline what he described as "shocking vulnerabilities" in the nation's election infrastructure, including newly declassified intelligence documents that he said showed China sought to influence the 2020 presidential election.
“Tonight, Americans heard the president once again repeat claims about our elections that have been investigated for years and repeatedly rejected by the Intelligence Community, the FBI, DHS, DOJ, bipartisan state election officials, audits, recounts, and the courts,” Warner said in a statement. “The facts have not changed.”
Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said China remains a "strategic competitor" that seeks to advance its interests at America's expense but argued those threats should be addressed "with facts, not distort them for political purposes."
The Virginia Democrat said the intelligence community has consistently concluded that while China considered an influence campaign during the 2020 election, it ultimately did not carry one out. He also said intelligence agencies found no evidence that any foreign government altered vote totals, hacked voting machines or compromised U.S. election infrastructure.
Warner warned that "false narratives" about election security pose a threat to public confidence and argued elections should continue to be administered by the states under the Constitution.
CIA chief says newly declassified documents shed light on China's 2020 election efforts
CIA Director John Ratcliffe said Thursday the agency had released newly declassified documents that he said shed additional light on China's efforts to influence the 2020 presidential election.
Ratcliffe's statement came after President Donald Trump said during a primetime address that the newly declassified intelligence documents show China sought to influence the 2020 election.
“To support President Trump’s transparency initiatives, CIA has taken significant steps, including providing declassified documents for public release. Protecting our democracy and the integrity of our elections from foreign influence and interference remains paramount,” Ratcliffe said in a statement.
“I have long publicly highlighted China’s nefarious efforts to influence the 2020 election against President Trump, as evidenced by my dissent to the flawed January 2021 Intelligence Community Assessment,” Ratcliffe said. “The documents declassified today shed further light on China’s intentions. These matters deserve public scrutiny to ensure our democracy’s foundation — the security and public confidence in our elections — is unassailable.”
Trump says DHS identified roughly 278,000 noncitizens on voter rolls, briefing scheduled Friday
President Donald Trump said Thursday that a Department of Homeland Security review identified approximately 278,000 noncitizens registered to vote in federal elections and announced his administration will notify states and help them remove ineligible voters from the rolls.
Citing DHS findings, Trump said the review compared state voter rolls and public records and found “more than a quarter of a million” noncitizens registered to vote, while arguing the true number could be higher because some states declined to share voter files.
The remarks come after DHS sent letters to election officials in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania identifying what the department described as preliminary matches between voter registration records and federal immigration data. DHS asked the states to work with the department to verify the identities before taking any action.
Trump also said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin will hold a briefing Friday on what he described as cyber vulnerabilities in electronic voting systems and said DHS has been directed to notify states of noncitizens on their voter rolls and assist with securing election systems ahead of the midterm elections.
Fox News Digital's Preston Mizell contributed to this reporting.
Trump directs FBI to revisit 2020 Michigan voter registration investigation
President Donald Trump said Thursday he is directing the FBI to reopen its investigation into an alleged voter registration fraud scheme in Muskegon, Michigan, after declassifying FBI records related to the case.
Trump said the records describe a 2020 investigation in which canvassers allegedly admitted to signing voter registration forms in other people’s names, submitting fraudulent registrations for nonexistent voters and receiving gift cards tied to the number of applications they turned in.
“The FBI agents working on the case believed that crimes were committed,” Trump said, alleging the Biden Justice Department “slow walked the investigation and killed it.”
Trump said he has asked FBI Director Kash Patel to ensure the matter is fully investigated and to work with the Justice Department to prosecute any crimes uncovered.
Trump says newly released documents show electronic voting machines are vulnerable
President Donald Trump said Thursday that the White House was releasing documents that he said raise questions about the security of electronic voting machines and the nation's election infrastructure.
“The third set of documents we are releasing proves that for many years, Americans were blatantly lied to about the security of our election infrastructure, including electronic voting machines and ballot counting systems,” Trump said during his primetime address. “They’re vulnerable and they're easily compromised and people within our government knew that.”
Fox News has not seen that evidence yet and is not in a position to evaluate the accuracy of the President’s statements at this time.
Trump said the White House was publishing previously classified U.S. intelligence assessments and other reports that he argued demonstrate longstanding concerns about election security.
“Tonight we're publishing a series of previously classified U.S. intelligence community assessments and other reports proving that our government has long known these machines are extremely exposed to attack,” Trump said. “As one assessment states, ‘We judged that the United States adversaries, including, at a minimum, Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, as well as non-state groups have the capability to compromise U.S. election infrastructure.’”
Trump claims declassified intelligence shows China acquired 220 million American voter files
President Donald Trump claimed Thursday that newly declassified intelligence documents show China sought to influence the 2020 election, alleging Beijing obtained millions of U.S. voter records and that intelligence officials concealed the information.
Speaking from the White House, Trump said the People’s Republic of China acquired 220 million U.S. voter files containing personal information and claimed intelligence agencies learned voter registration data in 18 states had been compromised but did not inform him, Congress or the public.
Trump also said the documents include CIA reporting alleging the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sought to prevent his reelection as well as intelligence from the FBI claiming China attempted to manufacture illegal ballots for former president Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump launches White House website releasing intelligence documents
President Donald Trump unveiled a new government website during his primetime address Thursday that he said contains intelligence documents detailing what he described as vulnerabilities in the nation's election infrastructure.
“The documents we will release starting tonight have been gathered by the White House Government Transparency Task Force, a great group of people, along with the staff of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board, supported by our top intelligence agency chiefs, who have all personally reviewed the findings we are presenting this evening and fully confirmed their authenticity,” Trump said during his speech.
Trump said the documents are available at new page on the White House website.
“Go check it out,” he said.
Trump says ‘no trust, no greatness’ as he announces release of election intelligence documents
President Donald Trump opened his primetime address Thursday by arguing that confidence in elections is essential to the nation’s future, declaring that “no trust, no greatness” before announcing the release of newly declassified intelligence documents on U.S. elections.
“America is back and doing really well, but we still have a major challenge that must be urgently addressed, because no country can be great without fair and honest elections,” Trump said. “You have to trust your country, because if there can be no trust, there can be no greatness. And that’s very simple. No trust, no greatness.”
Trump said he was ordering the “immediate declassification and release of critical intelligence” documents that he claimed reveals “shocking vulnerabilities” in U.S. elections.
The president said the documents were assembled by the White House Government Transparency Task Force and the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, with support from intelligence agency leaders.
Trump speech expected to last about 23 minutes as White House prepares document release
President Donald Trump’s primetime address on election integrity is expected to run approximately 23 minutes, according to the White House press pool.
Pool reporters said the speech currently loaded into the teleprompter runs about 23 minutes.
The White House also plans to release documents referenced by Trump during the address at 9 p.m. ET, though reporters had not yet been provided a link to the materials.
WATCH: Elissa Slotkin says SAVE America Act would make it 'hard for any Democrat' to win an election
Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., said the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act would make it harder for Democrats to win elections, prompting Republicans to argue she had finally said "the quiet part out loud."
Slotkin made the remarks in a video unearthed by Breitbart News after the Senate rejected the bill in June.
"It would be hard for any Democrat in any state to win any election," Slotkin said, without explaining how the legislation would hurt Democratic politicians.
The SAVE America Act would require documentary proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, photo identification to cast a ballot in federal elections, and additional steps to remove noncitizens from voter rolls.
President Donald Trump has made the bill a top legislative priority, arguing Democrats oppose it because it would make it harder to "cheat" in elections. The Center for Election Innovation & Research, a nonprofit election policy group, says voter registration by noncitizens is rare.
Republicans blasted Slotkin's comments, with Rep. Tony Wied saying Democrats "are saying the quiet part out loud," while Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee called her claims false and "absurd."
This is an excerpt from an article by Elaine Mallon.
Minnesota election probe launched over fraud concerns targets voter rolls
Minnesota launched an election integrity records probe in its two largest counties – Hennepin and Ramsey – targeting voter-eligibility checks, noncitizen safeguards and the state’s "vouching" process.
The investigation examines how officials verify voter eligibility, guard against potential noncitizen registrations and administer the Election Day practice known as "vouching," Fox News Digital learned in January.
President Donald Trump plans to address the nation Thursday evening to discuss “free and fair elections” as his administration has pushed the importance of securing the democratic process.
A representative of the watchdog that sent the public-records requests previously told Fox News Digital the anticipated probe into Minnesota's election processes was sparked by the fraud cases unfolding in Minnesota.
Minnesota has been rocked by a series of high-profile fraud scandals involving taxpayer-funded programs, including pandemic relief and social service initiatives.
The Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE) wanted to ensure its election system has not suffered similar swindling to the state's welfare and social programs.
Nearly 40,000 dead people uncovered on key swing state’s voter roll
The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) uncovered 34,000 dead people listed on the state's voter rolls after analyzing a federal database earlier this year.
The NCSBE submitted over 7.3 million voter records to the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database as part of an initiative to strengthen the accuracy and integrity of the state's voter registration list in April.
The identification of deceased individuals on the state's voter rolls does not necessarily indicate illegal votes were cast, but NCSBE executive director Sam Hayes said while “they expected to find some cases, this is higher than we anticipated.”
"Now, we must roll up our sleeves and begin the hard work to act of verifying that every person registered to vote in North Carolina is eligible. Our team, along with our state and federal will do what’s necessary to meet this responsibility,” added Hayes in the press release.
The Trump administration has increased oversight and investigations into election integrity matters, including through updates to the SAVE program last year.
This is an excerpt from an article by Alec Schemmel.
DOJ, DHS launch election integrity website ahead of Trump’s primetime address
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announced Thursday evening that the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have launched a joint election integrity website ahead of President Donald Trump’s primetime White House address.
“Excited to launch the joint @TheJusticeDept @DHSgov election integrity website, an interactive map showing what actions the federal government is taking to improve election security, transparency, and integrity for all Americans! Updated regularly!” Dhillon wrote on X.
The new website, titled “Enforcement Actions to Safeguard Election Integrity,” features an interactive map highlighting election-related enforcement actions and initiatives across the country. The homepage describes it as “a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security” and cites Trump’s March 25 executive order on election integrity.
The rollout comes hours before Trump’s scheduled 9 p.m. ET address from the White House, which the president has said will focus on election integrity and “free and fair elections.”
Trump's sweeping executive order targeting mail-in voting and election procedures marks another elec
President Donald Trump said his Thursday night address to the nation will focus on “free and fair” elections, reviving a central second-term push that has already drawn legal challenges.
The remarks come months after Trump signed a sweeping executive order targeting mail-in voting and voter eligibility, parts of which have since been blocked by a federal judge.
In March, Trump signed a sweeping executive order (EO) that targeted mail-in voting and voter eligibility.
The order directs federal agencies to help states identify eligible voters using federal citizenship and identity records, while requiring the U.S. Postal Service to develop new mail ballot safeguards, including barcode tracking and verification measures.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Social Security Administration along other federal databases are tasked under the order to create and share "State Citizenship Lists" with state election officials.
The EO was blocked by a federal judge in June.
GOP senator says Trump speech may be most important since Cuban Missile Crisis
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, dramatically raised expectations ahead of President Donald Trump’s primetime White House address Thursday, saying he had been briefed by the administration and urging Americans to tune in.
“I was just briefed by the White House on what to expect this evening,” Moreno wrote on X. “I would encourage every American to tune in tonight to the President’s speech. This may be the most important Oval Office address since the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
Moreno added, “The time for complacency with China is over.”
The White House has said Trump’s address will focus primarily on election integrity and “free and fair elections,” though the president has also teased additional announcements. Moreno’s post was later shared by the White House Rapid Response account.
Key blue state says noncitizens remained on voter rolls for a year, some cast ballots
The New Jersey Republican Party (NJGOP) and the Republican National Committee (RNC) uncovered that noncitizens were listed on voter rolls in the Garden State – with some even voting in prior elections.
Voter rolls were requested from all 21 counties in New Jersey and found multiple instances of noncitizens seeking naturalization asking to be removed from the rolls, claiming they were unknowingly registered to vote. The majority of noncitizens were registered as Democrats.
Official letters obtained by Fox News Digital show multiple noncitizens went to the Atlantic County Superintendent of Elections' office asking to be removed from New Jersey's voter rolls.
The noncitizens said they did not know how they had been registered through the Motor Vehicle Commission. Most of the letters stated the individuals had no voting history, though some had cast ballots.
One noncitizen who was removed from the rolls in 2015 voted several times in 2000 and 2001, and in the 2008 general election, according to the data. Another voted in a primary election in 2005 and a municipal election in 2000.
This is an excerpt from an article by Peter D'Abrosca.
Trump ramps up pressure on Republicans to pass SAVE Act ahead of major election integrity speech
President Donald Trump is turning a stalled Republican election-integrity bill into a broader test of party discipline, pressing GOP lawmakers to pass voter ID and citizenship verification measures before the midterm window narrows.
Trump repeatedly signaled Tuesday that election integrity would be at the center of his “big news” remarks Thursday night, as his push for the SAVE Act spills into fights over defense spending, housing legislation, Senate primary politics and the filibuster.
His push to get the SAVE Act passed has evolved into a fight stretching across defense spending, housing legislation, Senate primary politics and the filibuster, as Trump pushes Republicans to move the stalled elections bill before the party’s midterm window narrows.
Last week, Trump tied the stalled elections bill to a proposed "Reconciliation 3.0" package seeking $350 billion in new defense spending.
He previously stunned lawmakers with the last-minute cancellation of the signing of the 21st Century ROAD Act of Housing, while issuing an ultimatum to get the SAVE Act passed.
More than a quarter-million noncitizens may be registered to vote in 4 key states, DHS alleges
The Department of Homeland Security told election officials in California, New Jersey, Nevada and Pennsylvania that a preliminary review found what could be more than 256,000 noncitizens registered to vote across the four states, according to letters obtained by Fox News Digital.
In the four letters dated Friday, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the department compared publicly available voter registration records with federal immigration data and uncovered thousands of potential matches. He asked state election officials to work with DHS to verify the identities before taking any action.
According to the letters, DHS estimates there may be as many as 190,832 non-citizens registered to vote in California, 35,152 in New Jersey, 15,903 in Nevada and 14,576 in Pennsylvania.
The department said it found 81,336 California registrants, 19,497 New Jersey registrants, 8,576 Nevada registrants and 8,594 Pennsylvania registrants whose names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers match noncitizens in DHS records.
Many non-citizens are legally issued Social Security numbers, including lawful permanent residents, people authorized to work in the United States and certain visa holders. DHS said it used Social Security numbers as one of several identifiers in matching voter registration records with federal immigration records.
The letters describe the findings as a preliminary review.
"The most efficient way to ensure the accuracy of our findings is to work collaboratively on identity verification," Mullin wrote.
This is an excerpt from a story by Preston Mizell and Stephen Sorace. Read the full story here.
Live Coverage begins here