US President Donald Trump has revived allegations that China sought to interfere in American elections, a move that could strain recently improving relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of a planned summit in Washington later this year.
Speaking in a prime-time address on Thursday, Trump returned to longstanding claims about election security, accusing China of improperly obtaining data on millions of American voters. He described the alleged breach as an unprecedented threat to the integrity of US elections.
“The Chinese government wanted the US president to lose the next election because they knew I understood what they were doing,” Trump said, while also criticising election administration and unnamed government officials.
China swiftly rejected the allegations. Ahead of Trump’s address, Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said Beijing had never interfered and would never interfere in US presidential elections.
The remarks marked a sharp shift from Trump’s recent conciliatory tone toward Beijing. In recent months, he had praised his relationship with Xi and sought to stabilise ties following years of trade disputes between the world’s two largest economies.
Analysts say the renewed rhetoric could cast uncertainty over diplomatic efforts that followed the easing of last year’s trade tensions. After imposing steep tariffs on Chinese imports in 2025, Trump later softened his approach amid concerns that China’s restrictions on rare earth exports could disrupt US manufacturing.
The two leaders met during Trump’s state visit to China in May, where both sides sought to improve relations. Trump later invited Xi to Washington for talks scheduled for September 24 and is also considering attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen in November.
China has yet to confirm Xi’s visit. People familiar with the discussions said Beijing has privately indicated that future high-level engagements will depend on maintaining stable bilateral relations.
Despite Trump’s latest comments, early indications suggest Chinese officials view the speech largely through the lens of US domestic politics rather than as a fundamental shift in Washington’s policy toward Beijing. Observers also noted that Trump stopped short of announcing sanctions or other punitive measures against China, a factor that could temper Beijing’s response.
Trump has repeatedly alleged Chinese interference in previous US elections, including claims linked to the 2020 presidential race. However, a 2021 assessment by the US intelligence community found no evidence that China or any other foreign government altered any technical aspect of the election, including voter registration systems, ballots, vote tabulation or the final results.
During Thursday’s address, Trump also accused unnamed “Deep State” officials of failing to alert him to alleged election security vulnerabilities and directed law enforcement agencies to investigate any potential wrongdoing.
Although the White House has not announced any immediate policy changes following the speech, officials familiar with the administration’s approach said Washington has continued to warn Beijing that it will defend US national security interests. At the same time, the administration has reportedly discouraged some proposed measures that could further strain relations with China.
Former White House National Security Council official Mira Rapp-Hooper criticised Trump’s claims, arguing that the president was using unsubstantiated allegations of Chinese election interference to support proposed changes to US voting laws. She also suggested Trump appeared confident that his broader diplomatic engagement with Xi would withstand the renewed accusations.
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