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Former US President Donald Trump claimed on Thursday that declassified documents prove Chinese interference in American elections, reviving his persistent attacks on election security. In a prime-time address, Trump asserted the material would reveal "shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure." However, many of the documents presented appeared to show the opposite or were unrelated to US election systems. This effort to make election security a central political issue comes ahead of the November midterm elections, as Republicans defend their narrow congressional majorities. Trump urged Republicans in Congress to pass legislation mandating new voter identification and citizenship requirements, despite consistent findings that voter fraud in US elections is rare. The bill has stalled in the Senate due to strong Democratic opposition. The speech occurred at a difficult political juncture for Trump and Republicans, with his approval ratings impacted by the war in Iran and high energy prices. Trump briefly touched on the war, stating the US was "winning big," and listed domestic achievements like tax cuts and immigration enforcement before focusing on election security. He alleged that China illicitly obtained 220 million US voter files, including personal data, and accused US intelligence agencies of deliberately suppressing this information. This contradicts a 2021 unclassified US intelligence assessment, conducted under then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, which found no indications that any foreign actor attempted to or succeeded in altering any technical aspect of the 2020 presidential election. The report did note China's effort since at least 2008 to collect information on US voters and political activities, likely to predict election outcomes. Sources familiar with the matter indicated that the voter data China obtained was not confidential, as voter files are commonly purchased by political consultants, and could not be manipulated. Some White House officials reportedly expressed concerns that disclosing the information about China could be misleading, and Trump's strong language risked destabilizing a relationship that had recently steadied after a trade war. Trump plans to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in September to discuss improving trade relations.

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shocking vulnerabilities in our election infrastructure.