Trump accused China of an 'election security nightmare' but then undercut his own warning
Less than two weeks after accusing China of carrying out an "unprecedented election security nightmare," President Donald Trump has not changed his posture toward Beijing and is moving ahead with...
By Fox News · Fox News
Less than two weeks after accusing China of carrying out an "unprecedented election security nightmare," President Donald Trump has not changed his posture toward Beijing and is moving ahead with plans to host Chinese President Xi Jinping in September. "This data loss presents an unprecedented election security nightmare," Trump said in a July 16 address. "The intelligence even shows that China assigned a data exploitation unit specifically to this new project." Intelligence officials, he said, "worked to actively suppress and downplay information about the extent of China’s sinister election meddling." TRUMP’S UPBEAT CHINA MESSAGE COLLIDES WITH DEEPENING BEIJING RIVALRY Trump did not claim China changed votes or altered election results. Instead, he argued Beijing engaged in an influence campaign aimed at shaping U.S. public perceptions. But within days of the address, Trump undercut the urgency of his own warning. Asked whether China would face consequences, he said the alleged activity "took place a long time ago" and suggested it reflected the broader intelligence rivalry between the two countries. "They do things and we do things to them," Trump said July 21 in remarks to reporters. "I’ll be honest, we do things to them, too. It’s not a one-way street." So far, the fallout has been directed almost entirely inward. Trump ordered investigations into U.S. officials who handled the intelligence, while his trade and diplomatic engagement with Beijing has continued largely unchanged. Trump’s posture toward TikTok has undergone a similar shift. He sought to ban the platform during his first term over national-security concerns tied to its Chinese ownership but joined it during the 2024 campaign. Five days after Trump’s address, most Cabinet members launched official accounts after the Justice Department cleared federal employees to use TikTok under its new U.S.-controlled ownership. It also remains unclear when Trump first learned of the intelligence or whether he kn…