President Donald Trump is scheduled to deliver a primetime national address on July 16 regarding election integrity. In a July 14 exchange with reporters, Trump confirmed the remarks would concern the integrity of election machines. Unnamed White House officials have indicated the speech may include newly declassified intelligence regarding foreign influence during the 2020 election.
The upcoming address follows the President's recent advocacy for the SAVE America Act, a legislative proposal aimed at tightening voter registration and identification requirements. During his remarks on July 14, Trump stated that the country must address these issues because "without free and fair elections, you don't have a country."
Existing government assessments from the National Intelligence Council and the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, released in March 2021, concluded there were no indications that foreign actors successfully altered any technical aspects of the 2020 voting process. While these reports noted attempts by foreign entities to influence public opinion, they found no evidence that voter registration, casting, or tabulation were compromised.
Election experts, including Lawrence Norden of the Brennan Center for Justice, have noted that 98% of votes in the U.S. maintain paper records for auditing purposes. While the administration has recently reduced resources for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), intelligence officials maintained in previous reports that undetected interference in the 2020 results was extremely improbable.