In his July 16 address to the nation, U.S. President Donald Trump made dozens of references to alleged Chinese interference in the 2020 election, stating that China did not want him to win and that the U.S. deep state (the FBI, the CIA and White House staffers) colluded to keep Trump ignorant of China's malfeasance. China's foreign ministry denounced the allegations as false and "aimed at vilifying China," but did not demand a retraction or threaten retaliation.

Trump's Republican Party is heading into the November 2026 midterms likely to lose its congressional majority, and Trump is leveraging election claims like these to support passage of the SAVE America Act, which would raise requirements for voter identification at the ballot box.