United States President Donald Trump has said no country can achieve greatness without free, fair, and honest elections, as he renewed his criticism of the country’s electoral system.
Speaking from the White House during a primetime national address on Thursday, Trump said while the United States was making significant progress, concerns over the integrity of its elections remained a major challenge that required urgent attention.
“America 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,” he said.
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The president also announced the release of previously classified documents relating to the 2020 presidential election and the 2018 midterm elections, claiming they would shed more light on issues surrounding those polls.
Trump maintained that Americans deserved confidence that their elections were conducted without cheating or outside interference.
“All Americans should be assured that their elections are free of cheating and interference. Unfortunately, the system we have today falls catastrophically short of that standard,” he said.
He used the address to reiterate his call for Congress to pass stricter voter identification legislation, arguing that such measures were necessary to address vulnerabilities in the electoral process.
According to Trump, the proposed voter ID bill is “urgently needed” to strengthen election integrity and restore public confidence in the voting system.
Trump has repeatedly questioned the conduct of the 2020 election, which he lost, despite multiple audits, court rulings and reviews finding no evidence of widespread voter fraud capable of altering the outcome. He has not challenged the legitimacy of the elections he won in 2016 and 2024.