Donald Trump Accuses China of Rigging 2020 Election Defeat in Fiery Prime Time Address — but Beijing hits back at 'Malicious Smears'
Donald Trump accused China of meddling in the 2020 election during a fiery primetime address.
July 17 2026, Updated 7:37 a.m. ET
Donald Trump has accused China of rigging the 2020 election during a fiery primetime address to the nation.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the president, 80, said the country carried out "the largest compromise of election data in history" during his 30-minute speech, delivered three months before the midterm elections.
Trump's Claims 'Entirely Fabricated'
China's foreign ministry strongly denied Trump's claims.
The Commander-in-Chief said he had declassified hundreds of intelligence files which supported his claims that Beijing had tried to sway the election in Joe Biden's favour — despite U.S. intelligence previously concluding China did not interfere in the 2020 election.
In response to his speech, China's foreign ministry strongly denied the allegations of Chinese meddling in the 2020 presidential election, saying they were "entirely fabricated."
Trump's claims are "malicious smears" which have "long been proven to be groundless", foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said.
The president spoke in front of several members of his top team as he gave his address, but journalists were unable to put questions to the president.
President Launches 'Cover-Up' Claims
Trump also accused government officials of covering up China's alleged meddling.
In his remarks, he accused China of the "illicit acquisition" of 220 million voter files including personal information.
Trump said voter data in 18 states was "bought, stolen or hacked by China" and accused "those responsible for sounding the alarm" of not disclosing the discovery to government officials or Congress.
He also accused the so-called "deep state" within the U.S. government of working to "actively suppress and downplay information about the extent of China's sinister election meddling, covering it up from both the president and the American people."
He said: "Those responsible for sounding the alarm instead kept the information secret and hidden.
"They did not disclose to me as president or to anyone else, and to the best of our knowledge, they did not inform Congress."
Comments Jeopardize Relationship With China
Trump's remarks jar with recent healthy relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Trump's remarks represented a notable shift from his recent efforts to project a more cooperative relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, whom he has repeatedly described as a personal friend.
"The Chinese government wanted the U.S. president to lose the next election, and the reason they wanted me to lose is because they knew I was wise to them," Trump said.
The comments come as the world’s two largest economies attempt to preserve a trade truce that paused a damaging tariff war.
Trump imposed triple-digit tariffs on Chinese goods in 2025 before easing tensions after Beijing restricted exports of rare-earth minerals, raising concerns over potential disruptions to U.S. manufacturing.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
The president also laid into ABC and NBC for not broadcasting speech live.
Relations later improved, with Xi hosting Trump for a state visit in May, during which the president softened his stance on sensitive issues including Taiwan and praised Xi as a "friend."
Trump also used his speech to slam major television networks for participating in the alleged "plot" on behalf of "the radical left" by refusing to carry his speech live and called for two — NBC and ABC — to have broadcast licenses canceled.
"Fraud like this should mean a revocation of their licenses. They use our public multi-billion-dollar-in-value airwaves for absolutely no money," he said.
