WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� President Donald Trump used a primetime address to the nation Thursday to once again raise doubts about the results of past elections, reviving a subject he’s long used to make unproven claims and deny his loss in the 2020 election.
Trump鈥檚 fixation on six years ago and about it are things he still brings up regularly when discussing other subjects. But elevating the deeply political and conspiratorial topics to a presidential primetime address underscores the lengths to which Trump has used his second term to both blow past norms and fixate on old grievances.
Trump鈥檚 speech presented allegations of interference and influence in ways that lacked key context, and did not produce evidence that votes had been manipulated or that the election outcome had been altered.
Trump began Thursday night with a stark warning about what he described as flaws in the voting system and said he was releasing previously classified documents related to the 2020 and 2018 elections, when he lost the presidential election and his party suffered losses.
He did not raise doubts about his election wins in 2016 or 2024.
鈥淎merica 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,鈥� he said.
He said all Americans should be assured their elections are free of cheating and interference.
鈥淯nfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard,鈥� Trump said.
Trump used the remarks to justify his push to pass a strict voter ID bill in Congress, saying it鈥檚 鈥渦rgently needed to stop the vulnerabilities that I鈥檝e mentioned.鈥�
As Trump spoke, the White House unveiled a website containing documents that were presented without context and included selectively released pieces of investigation files, intelligence analysis and correspondence.
Notably, Trump focused on China but glossed over Russia, a country that intelligence officials have said favored Trump in 2016 and 2020 and engaged in wide-ranging influence campaigns aimed at boosting him over Biden in the latter campaign.
Primetime presidential addresses are typically reserved for major milestones or nationally significant events.
Trump last did it in April to speak on the Iran war, . He said then that the U.S. would 鈥渧ery shortly鈥� and that 鈥渢he hard part is done, so it should be easy.鈥� The war, however, has dragged on and strikes between the U.S. and Iran have intensified this week.
Trump also delivered in December in which he sought to blame the challenging economic climate on Democrats.
Some networks did not air it live
At least some TV networks said Thursday they would not carry the speech live but would air it on their streaming services. ABC, NBC and CNN decided not to air the remarks live but to carry them in full on their streaming services and break into network coverage as needed.
CBS and MS NOW both cut away from Trump鈥檚 speech before he finished, while Fox 91欧美激情 continued to carry his address.
Trump called out the media outlets for not carrying it live and accused them of being 鈥減art of a plot.鈥�
Networks typically but don鈥檛 always choose to carry presidential addresses to the nation live. In 2022, when then-President Joe Biden delivered a primetime address full of warnings about Donald Trump and his adherents鈥� 鈥渆xtreme ideology,鈥� the networks did not carry it live.
In 2014, the major networks chose to stick with their primetime programming instead of airing an address by then-President Barack Obama on his plans for immigration reform.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Thursday afternoon seemed to be still trying to persuade networks to carry the remarks live, saying, 鈥淚 think that the mainstream media should air the president鈥檚 speech and allow the American people to draw their own conclusions from it.鈥�
Raising questions about the midterms
Democrats warned that Trump was trying to revive false claims of past stolen elections in order to delegitimize the 2026 midterm elections, in which Trump鈥檚 Republican Party is facing headwinds.
鈥淭rump is going to use a primetime address to stoke misleading claims about our elections in order to justify interfering in our midterms. It鈥檚 on all of us to follow the facts and not accept his constant stream of misdirections and lies,鈥� Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner said in a statement on X.
鈥淭rump is again trying to drum up baseless election conspiracies ahead of the November elections,鈥� New Jersey Democratic Sen. Andy Kim said in a post on X. 鈥淎mericans are tired of endless war, skyrocketing gas prices, and a president that isn鈥檛 looking out for them. Voters will make their voices heard, whether Trump wants them to or not.鈥�
Leavitt didn鈥檛 answer a question Thursday about whether Trump would accept the results of the midterms, though Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Capitol Hill a day earlier that 鈥渙f course we鈥檙e gonna support the results of the midterm elections.鈥�
Vance bristled Wednesday when asked if he鈥檇 encourage Trump in his Thursday remarks to stay focused on November鈥檚 midterm elections rather than relitigate past elections. 鈥�’The unfounded claims,’鈥� Vance said, repeating the reporter’s language. “You鈥檙e basically assuming an answer in the very question that you ask.鈥�
鈥淭he president is going to talk about a number of things tomorrow night. I鈥檓 obviously not going to get ahead of his remarks,鈥� Vance said. 鈥淏ut we can talk about a number of the American people鈥檚 problems. We can solve a number of the American people鈥檚 problems.鈥�
Before he began speaking about elections, Trump started his speech by ticking through a long list of what he said were his administration鈥檚 accomplishments 鈥� including cutting drug prices.
___
Associated Press writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Will Weissert in Washington and Jocelyn Noveck in New York contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
